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CNITEB STATES OF AMERICA, 



A SYSTEM 



OF 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



Doctor and Professor of Theology, Author of" Studies in the Book," " Bib- 
lical Theology of the Old Testament," " Biblical Theology of the New 
Testament," " Theological Encyclopaedia," " Commentary on 
Mark," "An Introduction to Dogmatic Theology," 
"New Testament Greek Method," Etc. 



BASED ON MARTENSEN AND HARLESS. 



BY 




REVERE FRANKLIN WEIDNER, 



r 27 ' ,1 



PHILADELPHIA : 



G. W. FREDERICK. 
1 89 1 • 



CoJ>yrigted ) i8gr, by G. W. Frederick, 



TO 

MY WIFE, 

IN REMEMBRANCE OF 

YEARS OF HELPFUL LOVE AND HOLY EXAMPLE, 

THIS WORK, AS A 

Token of Gratitude and Hianksgiving, 
is 

LOVINGLY DEDICATED. 



PKEEACE. 



^S^njfaN attempt is here made to present, in a concise and 
(sS^Sr yet full form, the teaching of the Word of God and 
of Protestant Christianity with reference to the principles 
and rules of duty which ought to govern man in all his 
earthly relations. This discipline known as Christian 
Ethics, is the most practical of all the theological sciences, 
and presents the theory of moral life as it is to be actual- 
ized and manifested in the Christian affections, wrought by 
living faith, and shown by Christian walk and conversa- 
tion. 

Instead of aiming to present a new system, the writer 
has thought it a far more fruitful plan to rewrite and 
abridge two of the ablest works that have ever been writ- 
ten in this department. Ever since the appearance of the 
" Christian Ethics " of Hans Lassen Martensen, the great 
Danish theologian, his work has maintained the first rank. 
Bishop Ellicott, one of the brightest ornaments and ripest 
scholars of the Church of England, in his recent Commen- 
tary on the First Epistle to the Corinthians, expresses a 
true estimate of this work when he says : " It is to be re- 
gretted that the study of Christian Ethics, especially at the 
present time, has received but little attention from writers 

v. 



vi. 



PREFACE. 



of our own Church. Few of us could fail largely to profit 
by a careful perusal of the three volumes on Christian 
Ethics by that great and sober thinker, the late Bishop 
Martensen, to whom, in Christian Dogmatics, we have al- 
ready owed so much." 

In a certain sense this presentation is an abridgement of 
Martensen's work, and still it contains far more than that 
famous production. Martensen is more philosophical than 
biblical, and in this aspect of the subject, the great work 
of Harless completes him. What is best and most impor- 
tant in the presentation of Harless, has, therefore, also 
been incorporated in this treatise. The aim has been not 
simply to reproduce these great works, but so to use the 
material, and rewrite it, that what is here written, the au- 
thor believes to be the plain teaching of God's Word with 
reference to the duties of the Christian here on earth. No 
pains have been spared to master the contents of this sci- 
ence, and the writer would here especially express his great 
indebtedness to the works of Frank, Dorner, Wuttke, 
Schmid, Sartorius, and Vilmar. 

During the eight years that this work has been growing 
in the writer's hands, it has been the indirect means, by 
the grace of God, of developing more richly his inner, 
spiritual life, in that it has brought the rich treasures of 
God's Word in more direct bearing upon his heart and 
soul. And though the book has been especially prepared 
for students of theology and the younger clergy, still much 
of it is of such a devotional character, that we hope all in- 
telligent Christians seeking for guidance in the teaching 



PREFACE. 



vii. 



of God's Word, will find much that will be of the greatest 
help to them in their Christian life. That the book is not 
of too scientific a character for general reading is shown 
by the fact that the most technical part, covering the gen- 
eral principles, has in substance been delivered in lectures 
at Chautauqua and other Assemblies, to miscellaneous au- 
diences. 

The Table of Contents gives a clear indication of the 
fullness of the discussion, and the Index, at the close of 
the volume, has been prepared to be of special service to 
students in reviewing and in preparing for examination. 

R. F. W. 

Augustana Theological Seminary, 

Easter Monday, March 30th, 1891. 
Rock Island, 111. 



LIST OF AUTHORITIES. 



The following are some of the books and editions (omitting all exe- 
getical works) constantly used and referred to in the preparation of this 
treatise : 



Alden, Christian Ethics. New 

York. 1866. 
Alexander, Bible Truth. Phila., 

1846. 

Aristotle. Ethica Nicotnachea. 
Leipsic, 1831. 

Translated by Archdeacon 

Browne in Bohn's Library. Lon- 
don. 

Augustine. City of God and Mo- 
ral Treatises. Vols. 2 and 3 of 
Nicene and Post-Nicene Fath- 
ers. Buffalo, 1887. 

Aurelius Antoninus. Thoughts. 
Translated by Long. London, 
1875. 

Beck, Biblical Psychology. Edin- 
burgh, 1877. 

Bledsoe. A Theodicy. New York. 
1854. 

Caird. Introduction to the Philo. ;- 
ophy of Religion. New York. 
1 880. 

Cicero. Three Books of Offices. 

London, 1865. 
Coleridge. Aids to Reflection. 

New York, 1853/ 
Cremer. Bibl.-Theol. Lexicon of ' 

the N. T Greek. Edinburgh, 

1880. 

Delitzsch. Vier Bucher von der 
Kirche. Dresden, 1847. 

Dorner. System of Christian 
Ethics. New York, 1887. 

' Article on Ethik in Her- 

zog's Real-Ency. First edition. 



Ely. Social Aspects of Christianity, 
New York, 1889. 

Farrar. Seekers after God. New 
York, 1882. 

Fleming. Moral Philosophy. Lon- 
don, 1876. 

Gerhard. Taufe and Abendmahl. 
Reprint. Berlin, 1868. 

Harless. Christian Ethics. Edin- 
burgh, 1880. 

Verhdltniss des Christen- 

thumszu Cultur-und Lebensfra- 
gen. Erlangen, 1866. 

Die Lehre von den Gna- 

denmitteln. Erlangen, 1869. 

Haven. Moral Philosophy. Bos- 
ton, i860. 

Hopkins. Outline Study of Man. 
New York, 1878. 

Law of Love, etc. New 

York. 

Scriptural Idea of Man. 

London, 1883. 

Koestlin. Der Glaube. Gotha, 
1859. 

Krauth-Fleming. A Vocabulary 
of the Philosophical Sciences. 
New York, 1881. 

Laidlaw. Bible Doctrine of Man. 

Edinburgh, 1879. 
Langbein. Der Christliche Glaube. 

Leipsic, 1873. 
Lotze. Microcosmus. 2 vols. New 

York, 1888. 

ix. 



X. 



LIST OF AUTHORITIES. 



Lotze. Practical Philosophy. Bos- 
ton, 1885. 

Luthardt. Die Christ. Ethik. In 
vol. 3 of Zockler's Handbuch der 
Theol. Wissenschaften. Nord., 
1883. 

Die Ethik Luthers. Leip- 

sic, 1867. 

Moral Truths of Christi- 
anity. Edinburgh, 1 873. 

Luther. Bondage of the Will. 
Translated by Vaughan. Lon- 
don, 1823. 

Mann. Principles of Christian 
Ethics. Phila., 1872. 

Martensen. Christian Ethics. 3 
vols. Edinburgh, 1879-1882. 

Maurice. Moral and Metaphysi- 
cal Philosophy. 2 vols. Lon- 
don, 1872. 

Moehler. Symbolik. Tenth Ed. 
Mainz, 1888. 

Symbolism. Translated by 

Robertson. New York, 1844. 

Mueller. Christian Doctrine of 
Sin. 2 vols. Edinburgh, 1868. 

Nitzsch. System of Christian 
Doctrine. Edinburgh, 1849. 

Oehler. Theology of the Old Tes- 
tament. New York, 1883. 

Pascal. Thoughts, Letters, etc. 
Edited by Wight. New York. 
1859. 

Plato. Apology and Crito. Tyler's 
edition. New York, 1881. 

Wagner's editioa. Bos- 
ton, 1882. 

Hermann's edition. Leip- 

sic, 1865, 

Cary's translation of the 

Apology, Crito, and Phcedo. 
London, 1852. 

Sadler. The Second Adam, etc. 
London, 1876. 



Sartorius. Doctrine of Divine 
Love. Edinburgh, 1884. 

Schleiermacher. On the Worth of 
Socrates as a Philosopher. 
Translated by Thirlwall. In 
Anthon's edition of the Memor- 
abilia. New York, 1848. 

Schmid. Biblical Theology of the 
New Testament. Edinburgh, 
1870. 

Seneca. Morals. Phila., 1845. 

Ueberweg. History of Philosophy. 

2 vols. New York, 1872-75. 
Ullmann. The Sinlessness of Jesus. 

Edinburgh, 1858. 

Vilmar. Theologische Moral. 2 
vols. Giitersloh, 1871. 

Weidner. Biblical Theology of the 
Old Testament. Chicago, 1886. 

Biblical Theology of the 

New Testament. 2 vols. Chica- 
go, 1891. 

Studies in the Book. 3 vols. 

Chicago, 1 89 1. 

Theological Encyclopaedia. 

3 vols. Chicago, 1886-91. 
Weiss. Biblical Theology of the 

New Testament. 2 vols. Edin- 
burgh, 1882. 

Wiggers. Life of Socrates. In An- 
thon's edition of the Memora- 
bilia. New York, 1848. 

Wuttke. Handbuch der Christ. 
Sittenlehre. Zweite Aufiage. 2 
vols. Berlin, 1864-65. 

Christian Ethics. Trans- 
lated by Lacroix. 2 vols. New 
York, 1873. 

Xenophon. Memorabilia of Socra- 
tes. Edited by Author. New 
York, 1848. 

Edited by Robbins. New 

York, 1859. 

Translated by Watson. 

New York, 1866. 



CONTENTS 



INTRODUCTION. 

CHAPTER I. 

The Name, Divisions, and Literature of Christian Ethics. 

PAGE, 

The Name, ..... i 

Divisions, . ' . . . 2 

Literature, . . . . . .5 

CHAPTER II. 

THE IDEA AND SCOPE OF CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 

Section I. 
Definitio?i of the Moral. 
The Concept of the Moral, . . .6 

The Ethical Idea is the Good, ... 7 
The Three Fundamental Ideas of the Good, . 8 

The Concept of Humanity, ... 9 
Section II. 
Religion and Morality Contrasted. 
Destinction between Morality and Religion, . 10 

Distinction between Worldly and Religious Morality, 1 1 
Insufficiency of Worldly Morality, . . .12 

xi. 



xii. CONTENTS. 



Section III. 
Christian Morality. 
The Essential Character of Christian Morality, e 13 
Catholicism and Protestantism contrasted, . 15 
Lutheran and Reformed Ethics contrasted, . .16 
Section IV. 
Christian Ethics and Dogmatics Contrasted. 
Relation of Ethics to Dogmatics, . . 19 

The Biblical Character of Ethics, . . 20 

CHAPTER III. 

THE POSTULATES OF CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 

Section I. 
The Theological Postulate. 

The Ethical Concept of God, . . .21 

God the alone Good, . . . . 22 

God as Perfect Love, . . . 23 
God as Holy Love, Almighty Power, and Perfect 

Wisdom, ..... 23 

God a Triune God, . . . . 23 
Section II. . 
The Anthropological Postulate. 

Man formed in the Image of God, . . .24 

Man a Creature possessed of Soul and Body, . 25 

The Soul's Relation to its Organism, . .26 

Individuality and Personality, . . . 27 

The Development of Personality, . . .28 

Bent or Inclination, .... 29 

Worldliness the Characteristic Feature of Man, . 30 



CONTENTS. xiii. 

The Development of Sin, . . . 31 

The Universality of Sin, . . . 32 

The Will as Free and Bound, . . . 32 

The Character of the Will produced by Choice, . 32 
The Determination of my Will depends on Motives, 33 

The Will as Enslaved by Sin, . . 33 

Indeterminism and Determinism, . . 34 

The Will is not under Natural Necessity, . 35 

Is there any Truth in Determinism ? . 35 

The Truth of Determinism Supplemented, . -35 
Section III. 
The Cosmological and Soteriological Postulate. 

The Moral Order of the World, . . -36 

The Christian View of the World, . . 37 

The Aim of History, . . . -37 

The Education of the Individual, . . 37 
Section IV. 
The Eschatological Postulate. 
The End of History and the Completion of God's 

Kingdom, . . . . .• 39 

The Ethical Fundamental Ideas, . . 39 



xiv. 



CONTENTS. 



FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF ETHICS. 

CHAPTER I. 

THE HIGHEST GOOD. 

Section I. 
The Kingdom of God the Highest Good. 
God's Kingdom the Highest Good, . . 40 

Difference between Bliss and Happiness, . 41 

The Ideal of Earthly Happiness limited, . . 43 

In the Kingdom of God on Earth we must fight with 

Evil, ..... 44 

Section II. 
The Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Sin. 
The Kingdom of Sin, . . . .44 

Definition of the Highest Evil, . . . 45 

Section III. 

The Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of the World. 
The Kingdom of the World, . . . 46 

Optimism and Pessimism contrasted, . . 46 

Goethe's Optimism criticised, . . .47 

Pessimism, ..... 48 
Fatalastic Pessimism, . . • .49 

Pessimism in Literature, ... 49 

The Solution of the Problem, . . -49 

Christianity the Truth of Pessimism and Optimism, 49 
Section IV. 

The Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Humanity. 
The Kingdom of Humanity, . . '5° 

The Emancipation which the Gospel brings, . 5 1 

The Aim of History, . . . 5 1 



CONTENTS. 



Section V. 
The Kingdom of God and the Individual. 
God's Kingdom in Regard to Individuals, . 
Socialism Denned, 

The Individualism of the Vinet criticised, . 
The Individualism of Kierkegaard criticised, 

CHAPTER II. 

VIRTUE. 

Section I. 
The Ideal of Personality. 
" Christ the Ideal, . 
Christ our Pattern, .... 

Section II. 
Christ the Unparalleled in History. 
Christ, true Man and true God, 
Christ was born in the Fulness of Time, 

Section III. 
Christ the Example of Self Government. 
Christ the Example of Free-will, 
Christ the Perfect Personality, . 
Christ the Perfect Man, 
Christ the Son of God, . 

Section IV. 
Christ the Example of Love and Obedience. 
The Obedience of Christ, . 

Christ the Righteous Servant of the Old Testament 
The Lord in the Form of a Servant, 



xvi. 



CONTENTS. 



Section V. 
The Love of Christ. 
Contemplative and Supplicative Love, . 63 
Christ's Active Love, .... 64 
Solution between the Contemplative and the Practi- 
cal Life, . ... . 65 
Active and Passive Love, ... 65 
Christ's Passion Necessary, . . • . .66 
In Christ Activity and Suffering are combined, . 66 
Christ the Ideal of Perfect Righteousness, . .67 



Section VI. 
Christ the Type of Glory. 
The Exaltation of Christ, . . . • . 67 

Section VII. 
The Disciples of the Kingdom. 



Discipleship, . . . . .68 
Our Discipleship rests on Christ's Resurrection and 

Exaltation, . . . . 69 

Beginning of Discipleship in the Individual, . 69 

Awakening, ..... 70 

Awakening must lead to Regeneration, . 71 

Section VIII. 
The Imitation of Christ. 

The Imitation of Christ, . . . 72 

The Direct Imitation of Christ, . . . 72 

No Imitation without the Acknowledgment of Christ 

as the Saviour, . . . 73 

Defect of Mysticism, . . . . 74 



CONTENTS. 



xvii. 



Section IX. 

Love to Christ the Cardinal Virtue of Christianity. 



Love to God in Christ Jesus, . . -74 
Love to Christ includes Love to Man and True Self- 
Love, ..... 75 

Contemplative, Mystic, and Practical Love, . 76 

Christian Love versus Egoism or Selfishness, . 77 

Fidelity, . . . . . .77 

Sanctification, ..... 78 

The Highest Motive, . . . .79 

The Value of Justifying Faith, ... 79 

Quietism, . . . . . 79 

Peace brings Joy, .... 80 

Fellowship with Christ the Deepest Quietive, . 81 
Section X. 
The Christian Character. 

The Christian Character, . . . .81 

The Variety of Christian Character, . . 82 

CHAPTER III. 

THE LAW. 

Section I. 
Duty and Law. 
The Relation of Duty to Law, . -. 83 

The Law of Morality and the Law of Nature, . 83 
Authority, . . . . . .84 

All Authority is of God,, ... 85 

Section II. 
Conscience. 

The Nature of Conscience, . . . -87 

l a 



xviii. 



CONTENTS. 



The Essence of Conscience, . . . 88 
The Form of the Manifestation of Conscience, . 89 
The Testimony of Conscience respecting the Incli- 
nation to Evil, . . . . 91 
The Testimony of Conscience to the Powerlessness 

of the Will, . . . . . 92 

Conscience may be Enlightened and Cultivated, 92 

The Social Conscience, . . . 94 

Section III. 
The Content of the Law. 
Natural and Supernatural Revelation, . -94 

The Content of the Law, . . . 95 

Moral Obligations, . . . . .96 

Determination of the Content of the Law, . 97 

Section IV. 
The Positive Law. 
The Revealed Law, . . . . 97 

The Mosaic Law as contrasted with the Gospel, . 98 
The Nature and Essence of the Gospel, . . 100 

Christ the Fulfiller of the Law, . . 102 

Section V. 
The Believer 's new Relation to the Law. 
The New Relation to the Law, . . .105 

Individual Antinomianism, . . . 108 

Social Antinomianism, . . . .109 

Jesuitism, . . . . . no 

Section VI. 
Ethical Forbearance. 
The Permissible, . . . . .110 



CONTENTS. 



xix. 



Adiaphora, . . . . . no 

Ethical Forbearance, . . . .in 
Section VII. 
Duties. 

Duty and Supererogatory Perfection, . .112 

Duty and the Present Moment, . . 113 

Collision of Duties, . . . .114 
Section VIII. 
The Regenerate and the Law. 

Can the Regenerate fulfill the Law ? . . 115 

Merit and Reward, . . . . 115 
The Significance of the Law to the Regenerate, . 116 

Section IX. 
The Educating Grace of God in Christ. 

Christ and the Nations, . . . . 1 1 7 

Authority and Liberty in the Development of Soci- 
ety, • • ■ . 117 

Conservatism and Progress, . . .118 

Christianity and the Law, . .. . 118 

Transition to the Special Part of Ethics, . . 118 



XX. 



CONTENTS. 



INDIVIDUAL ETHICS. 

Part I 

FE UNDER THE LA WAND SIN. 
CHAPTER I. 

LIFE WITHOUT LAW. 

Section I. 
The Natural Man. 
Distinction between Life under the Law and Life un- 
der Grace, . . . . .120 
Life according to mere Nature, . . 121 
Section II. 
Personal Character. 
Nature and Character, . . . .122 
Natural Virtues and Faults, . . . 123 
Section III. 
The Temperaments. 
The Sanguine Temperament, . . -123 
The Melancholic Temperament, . . 124 
The Bilious Temperament, . . . .125 
The Phlegmatic Temperament, . . 125 
Section IV. 
The Difference of Sexes. 
The Male and Female Nature, . . .126 
Special Gifts of Woman, . . . 127 
Special Temptations of each Sex, . . .128 
Section V. 
The Pursuit of Righteousness. 
The Earnestness of Life, . . . .129 
The Pursuit of Righteousness, . . . 129 



CONTENTS. 



xxi. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE CHIEF FORMS OF MORAL LIFE UNDER THE LAW. 



Section I. 
Civil Righteousness. 

The Morality of the Natural Man, . . . 131 

Particularistic Morality inadequate, . . 132 

Section II. 
Philosophical Righteousness. 

As sought by the Ancient Philosophers, . . 134 

Life according to Reason, . . . 134 

Self-Knowledge, . . . . . 135 

The Internal Contradiction in Human Nature, . 135 

Struggling Virtue and Insufficient Means, . -136 

Inadequate Means, . . . . 137 

Bondage of Duty, . . . . -138 

-/Esthetic Education, . . . . 138 

The Middle-way Morality, . . . .142 

Section III. 
The Righteousness of the Pharisees and Scribes. 

The Advantage of Pharisaism, . . . 143 

Its Weakness, . . . . . 143 

The Weightier Matters of the Law, . . 144 

The Tendency still repeats itself, . . 144 

-Section IV. 
the seekers. 

The Seekers and Non-Finders, . . .145 



xxii. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER III. 

SIN. 

Section I. 
Manifestations of Sin. 

Immorality and Sin, . . . . 148 ' 

Temptation and Passion, . . . 149 

Habit and Vice, . . . . .151 

Ramifications of Sin, . . . . 151 

Differences in Sin, . . . . . 153 

Section II. 
States of the Life of Sin. 

Steps of Development in the Life of Sin, . .156 

The State of Security, . . . . 156 

Self-Conscious Bondage, . . . .158 

Self-Deception, .... 159 

Scepticism, . . . . . . 159 

Indifference to Religion, . . . 161 

Hypocrisy, . . . . . .162 

Hardness of Heart, . ... . 163 

Hatred of God, . . . . . 164 

Hatred of Christ, . . . . 1 64 

Sin against the Holy Ghost, . . .167 

Section III. 
Imputation and Guilt. 

Sin brings Guilt, . . . . . 1 70 

Punishment, . . . . . 172 



CONTENTS. 



xxiii. 



CHAPTER IV. 

CONVERSION AND THE NEW LIFE BEGUN. 

Section I. 
Regeneration. 

Regeneration in its Stricter Sense, . . .174 

Regeneration and Baptism, . . . 179 

Regeneration in its Wider Sense, , . . 183 

Section II. 
Conversion. 

Appropriation of the Spirit of Regeneration, . 184 

The Nature and Permanence of Conversion, . 184 

The Knowledge of the Law and Gospel, . .186 

Repentance and Faith, . . . 187 

Hindrances to Conversion, . . . .191 

Section III. 
The Gospel and Faith. 
The Essence and Import of the Gospel, . . 193 

Justifying Faith, . . . . 197 



xxiv. 



CONTENTS. 



Part II 

LIFE IN FOLLOWING CHRIST. 
CHAPTER I. 

CHRISTIAN LOVE. 

Section I. 
The State of Grace. 
Life in a State of Grace, 
Marks of being in a State of Grace, 
Section II. 
Sanctification. 
Progressive Sanctification, 

The Activity of the Converted Man in his Sanctifi 

cation, ..... 
Sanctification and the Christian Virtues, 
Section III. 
Evangelical Love. 
Distinction between Faith, Love, and Hope, 
The Nature of Love, .... 
Love is the Fulfilment of the Law, . 
Method of Presenting this Subject, 

Section IV. 
Appropriating Love. 
Appropriation and Worship, 

Section V. 
Contemplative Love. 
Pious Contemplation, 
The Necessity of Contemplation, 



CONTENTS. 



XXV. 



The Essential Nature of Contemplation, . .213 

The Object of Contemplation, . . 214 

Christian Contemplation in Self-Inspection, . 215 

The Reading of Scripture, . • . . 216 
The Importance of Teaching the whole of Scripture, 218 

Thankfulness and Admiration, . . . 220 

The Relation of Contemplative to Mystical Love, . 221 
Section VI. 
Mystical Love. 

Communion with God, . ' . . .222 

Fuller Definition of Prayer, . . . 222 

Hindrances to Prayer, . . . . 223 

Cultivation of the Gift of Prayer, . . 224 

Prayer in the Name of Jesus, . . .224 

Petition with Intercession, . . . 225 

Prayer, must be joined with Thanksgiving, . .227 

The Form of Prayer, . . . . 228 

The Lord's Supper, . . . .228 

Worthy Partaking of the Lord's Supper, . 230 
Section VII. 
Practical Love. 

Devotion to the Ideal of God's Kingdom, . .232 

Love to Men, . . . . > . 232 

Love to My Neighbor, . . . . 233 

The Pattern of Ministering Love, . . 233 

Philanthropy and Love of Truth, . . . 234 

Truth and our Subjective Opinions, . . 235 

Limits to the Duty of Truthfulness, . -236 

Is the Lie of Necessity Justifiable ? . . 236 



xxvi. 



CONTENTS. 



The Oath, . . . . . .237 

Proper Conditions under which an Oath may be 



taken, . . . ... . 241 

Speak the Truth always, . . . 241 

Philanthropy and Love of Righteousness, . . 242 

Righteousness extends to all Departments of Life, 244 
The Unity of Righteousness and Love, . .244 
Politeness, ...... 246 

Mercy, ...... 248 

Edifying Example, . . . . 252 

Love to the Dead, . . . . .252 

Love to Posterity, . . . . 255 

Love to Nature and to Beast, . • .256 

Section VIII. 
Christian Self-Love. 

Self-Love in Truth and Righteousness, . .258 

Compassion with Ourselves, . . . 259 

The Earthly and the Heavenly Calling, . .261 

Social Life and Solitude, . . . 263 
Working and Enjoying, .... 266 

Temptation and Assault, . . . 266 

Signification of Temptation to the Regenerate, . 267 

Means of Overcoming Temptation, . . 268 

Assault, . . . . . . 270 

Suffering, . . . . . 273 

The Cross, ...... 275 

Comfort under Sufferings, . « , .276 



CONTENTS. 



xxvii. 



CHAPTER II. 

CHRISTIAN LIBERTY. 

Section I. 
Christian Liberty and the Law. 
The Ideal of Christian Liberty, . . .278 

Christian Liberty and the Law, . . 279 

Christian Liberty and Authority, . . .280 

Section II. 
Christian Liberty and the World, 

Temporal Goods and Evils, . . . • .282 

Honor and Dishonor, .... 283 

Social Prosperity, . . . . ,284 

Earthly Possession and Poverty, . . 286 

Health and Sickness, . . . .287 

Life or Death, . . . . . 289 

Weariness of Life and Suicide, .• . .291 

Death, . . . . . . 293 

Christian Contentment and Joy in Life, . . 294 

CHAPTER III. 

STAGES OF HOLINESS. 

Section I. 
Christian Development of Character. 

Stages of Holiness, . . . . . 297 

States of Holiness, " . . . 299 

Development of Christian Character, . . 301 

Falling from Grace, . . . . 302 



xxviii. 



CONTENTS. 



Section II. 
Christian Ascetics. 



The Object of Christian Ascetics, 
Purity of Character, 
Energy of Character, 
Harmony of Character, 



306 



309 



3°5 
305 



SOCIAL ETHICS. 

THE MORAL LIFE OF SOCIETY AND THE 
KINGDOM OF GOD. 

CHAPTER I. 

THE FAMILY. 

Section I. 
The Family and the Moral World. 

The Moral Life of Society, . . . . 311 

The Family the Beginning of the Moral World, 312 
Christianity has given the Family its true Moral Im- 
portance, . . . . 314 

Marriage, . . . . . . 315 

Monogamous Marriage, . . . 316 
Celibacy, . . . . . .316 



Section II. 
Contraction of Marriage. 



Choice of a Partner, 

Marriage of Inclination, 

Church Solemnization of Marriage, 

Impediments to Marriage, 



3!9 



3 21 
322 



323 



CONTENTS. xxix. 

Section III. 
Married Life. 

Duties of Husband and Wife, . . -324 

Married Love must Increase, . . . 325 

The Trials of Married Life, . . . 327 

Mixed Marriages, . . . . 329 

Section IV. 
Dissolution of Marriage. 

Second Marriage, . . . . 331 

Divorce, . . . . . . 332 

Section V. 
The Emancipation of Woman. 

The Modern Doctrine of Emancipation, . . 334 

The Vocation of Women, . . . 335 

The Ideal Sphere of Woman, . . 337 

Section VI. 
Family Life and Family A ffection. 

Family Affection, . . ' . . . 338 

Parents and Children, ...» 339 

Special Religious Training of Children, . . 340 

Masters and Servants, . . . . 342 
Hospitality, ..... 344 

Friendship, . . . . . 344 
Social Intercourse, ...... 346 



XXX. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE STATE. 

Section I. 
The State and Justice. 
The State is the Kingdom of External Justice, 
The Duty of the State, 
Nationality, .... 
Relation of Christianity to Nationality, 

Section II. 
The Christian State. 
The Notion of the Christian State, . 
Unbelief within the Christian State, 

Section III. 
The State and the Civil Community. 
The Classes of Mankind, 

Distinction of Classes, .... 
The Agricultural Class, 

The Industrial Class, .... 

The Commercial Class, 

The Laboring Class, *. 

The State and the Civil Community, 

Section IV. 
Socialism. 

The Common Weal, 

The Relation of Christianity to the General Prosp< 

ity of a Country, 
The Labor Question, .... 



CONTENTS. 



xxxi. 



Utopian and Revolutionary Socialism, . . 363 

Ethic Socialism, .... 365 

Legislation by the State, .... 368 

The Solution Christianity offers, . . 369 

Section V. 
The State and Public Morality. 



Public Morality, . . . . . 370 

Transgression and Punishment, . . 372 

Capital Punishment, . . . • 374 

Section VI. 
Civil Virtue. 

Patriotism, . . . . . • 374 

Public Opinion, . . . , 375 
The Press, ...... 376 

War, ...... 377 



CHAPTER III. 

THE IDEAL TASKS OF CULTURE. 

Section I. 
Art. 

Art and Science, . . . . ,380 

Art and Humanity, . . . . 381 

Art and Morality, . . . . .382 

Section II. 
Science. 

Science and Humanity, .... 384 
The School, . . . v . 385 



xxxii. 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE CHURCH. 

Section I. 
The Church and the Kingdom of God. 



The Church, . . . . .387 

Edification, ..... 388 

The Church and Humanity, . . -389 

The Congregation and the Ministry, . . 389 

Edification of Public Worship, . . . 391 

The Task of Christian Preaching, . . 393 

Section II. 
The Cardinal Functions of the Church. 
Self-manifestation, ..... 394 
Self-propagation, . . . . 395 

Self-purification, . 395 

CHAPTER V. 
The Consummation of the Kingdom of God. 

The Kingdom of God is still to come, . . 396 

The Great Apostasy and the Antichrist, . 397 
The Millenium, . . . . ,401 

Waiting for the Day of the Lord, . . 404 

Index, ...... 409 



Cheistian Ethics. 



INTRODUCTION. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE NAME, DIVISIONS, AND LITERATURE OF THE SCIENCE 
OF CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 

The Name. — The terms Moral Philosophy and Ethics, 
are often used interchangeably. Ethics is the science 
which treats of the nature and condition of man as a moral 
being, and of the duties which result from his moral rela- 
tions. The term ethics is the most ancient, dating from 
the time of Aristotle, but as the Romans used generally for 
this idea, the term mores, and Cicero and Seneca speak of a 
philosophia moralis, we find the term Moral Philosophy in 
common use in the English language. If Ethics is the 
science of the moral, Christian Ethics is the science of 
Christian morals, that is, of the principles and rules of 
duty which are formally sanctioned and taught by Chris- 
tianity. Christian Ethics is also sometimes known by the 
name of Theological Ethics, especially in Germany, where 
this science has been largely cultivated. 

2 (I) 



2 CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 

There are three different standpoints from which a sys- 
tem of Ethics may be presented, the empirical, the philo- 
sophical, and the theological or Christian. An empirical 
ethics is based on experience and furnishes only a series of 
observations and rules, and can only be regarded as the 
vestibule, but not ethics itself. Philosophical ethics seeks 
to develop the moral as a pure revelation of reason, and 
takes philosophy as its exclusive ground and source. 
Theological ethics, on the contrary, regards the moral as a 
revelation of faith in the personal God and in the histori- 
cal Christ, — as an expression of obedience to the revealed 
will of God. Hence theological ethics is, in respect to 
extent of contents and to the means at its disposal, richer 
than purely philosophical ethics. 1 Wuttke maintains that 
theological ethics may make use of philosophy, and that 
it is all the more scientific the more it does this, but that 
it cannot take philosophy as its exclusive ground and 
source without ceasing to be theological. 

Martensen also holds that there is no real opposition be- 
tween Christian Ethics and Philosophical Ethics, because 
philosophical ethics may be Christian, and Christian ethics, 
philosophical. But the contents are different, and hence 
the relation of the former to the latter is partly critical, re- 
newing and correcting, partly completing and perfecting. 

As we purpose in this work to present a System of Chris- 
tian Ethics, it must of necessity be essentially theological. 

Divisions. — Christian Ethics, like Philosophical Ethics, 
is commonly divided into general and special ethics, the 
1 Compare Wuttke, Vol. I, g 4, pp. 27-35. 



INTRO D UCTION. 



3 



former treating of principles, and the latter of the applica- 
tion of principles. Special Ethics again is subdivided into 
the special doctrines of particular virtues and duties. 

Martensen, 1 upon whose work these lectures are based, 
presents his system under three parts in three volumes, of 
which we give the following outline : 

VOL. I. GENERAL ETHICS. 

§ I -15. The Concept of Christian Ethics. 
I 16-44. The Postulates of Christian Ethics. 

(a) \ 16-20. The Theological Postulate. 

(6) § 21-38. The Anthropological Postulate. 

( c ) § 39"4 2 - The Cosmological and Soteriological Postulate. 

(d) I 43, 44. The Eschatological Postulate. 

§ 45-149. The Principles of Ethics, and the Ethical View of the 
world and of life. 

I. \ 45-70. The Highest Good. 
II. \ 71-112. Virtue. 
III. I 113-149- The Law. 

VOL. II. INDIVIDUAL ETHICS. 

I. \ I - 64. Life under the Law and Sin. 

1. \ 1-7. Life without Law. 

2. I 8-29. The chief forms of Moral Life under the Law. 

3. § 30-56. Sin. 

4. g 57-^4- Conversion and the New Life begun. 



1 Christian Ethics. By H. Martensen, D. D., Bishop of Zealand. 
Translated from the Danish by C. Spence. T. & T. Clark, Edin- 
burgh, 1879. The Same. Special Part. Individual Ethics. Trans- 
lated by W. Affleck. Vol I. T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 188 1. The 
Same. Social Ethics. Translated by Sophia Taylor. Vol. 2. T. & 
T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1882. 



4 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



II. \ 65-173. Life in following Christ. 

1. $65, 66. The State of Grace. 

2. \ 67. Sanctification and the Christian Virtues. 

3. § 68-144. Christian Love. 

(a) % 69. Appropriating Love. 
(£) § 70-75. Contemplative Love. 

(c) \ 76-86. Mystical Love. 

(d) \ 122-144. Christian Self-Love. 

4. \ 145-161. Christian Liberty. 

5. \ 162-173. Stages and States of Holiness. 

VOL. III. SOCIAL ETHICS. 

\ 1 -161. The Moral Life of Society and of the Kingdom of God. 
I. I 2-38. The Family. 

2 - I 39-99- The State - 

3. § 100-132. The Ideal tasks of Culture. 

4- I I33- I 56- The Church. 

5. \ 157-161. Consummation of the Kingdom of God. 

Harless in his "System of Christian Ethics" ' treats 
of the subject under (1) The Blessing of Salvation ; (2) 
The Possession of Salvation ; and (3) The Preservation 
of Salvation. And although Harless himself says that his 
book contains no trace of a system, still his work is very 
able, purely evangelical and biblical, and in our presenta- 
tion of this subject we are greatly indebted to him. 

The Christliche Sittenlehre of Adolph Wuttke has also in 
part been translated into English. 2 Dr. Wuttke discusses 
Christian Ethics proper under 

1 Translated from the German of the sixth enlarged edition by A. 
W. Morrison and W. Findlay. T. & T. Clark, Edinburgh, 1 880. 

2 By John P. Lacroix. Nelson & Phillips, New York, 1873. Vo L 
I. History of Ethics. Vol. 2. Pure Ethics. The last two parts have 
not been translated. 



INTRODUCTION. 



5 



(i.) The Moral in its ideal form, — that which God, as 
holy, wills. 

(2.) The fall from the truly moral, namely sin, — that 
which man, as unholy, wills. 

(3.) The moral in its restoration by redemption. 

In these lectures, although we shall make continual use 
of Harless and Wuttke, we shall adopt in general the sys- 
tem of Martensen, as being best adapted for popular and 
still scientific treatment. 

Literature. — It may seem strange to say so, but although 
no literature is richer in the field of Philosophical Ethics 
than the English, it is sadly deficient in works written 
from a distinctively Christian standpoint. It is to the 
Lutheran Church of Germany and Denmark that we are 
indebted for the most thorough development of this 
science. And however different the fundamental views 
are on which these systems rest, they have this feature in 
common, of seeking what they regard as the scriptural view 
of life. The most notable works on Christian Ethics, 
translated into English, are those of Dorner, Harless, Mar- 
tensen, Sartcrius, Schmid, and Wuttke. All these, with 
the exception of Dorner, represent the most conservative 
type of Confessional Lutheranism, and rest upon a purely 
Biblical foundation. To those acquainted with German 
we would also recommend the works of Frank, Luthardt, 
and Vilmar. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE IDEA AND SCOPE OF CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



SECTION I. 

DEFINITION OF THE MORAL. 

The Concept of the Moral — The Moral is that which 
regulates human will and action, the norm or rule by which 
men spontaneously acquiesce in what must and ought to 
be. Only in the domain of freedom can there exist the 
moral as opposed to the merely natural. For where there 
is no freedom of will, there we speak neither of the mor- 
ally-good nor of the morally-evil. 

All deeper research into the moral leads to the idea of 
an absolute aim or object for human will and voluntary ac- 
tion. This all-embracing aim is the Good. Good is 
whatever answers to its end or purpose, in short, which is 
as it ought to be. But the morally good is to be found 
only where man realizes the object of free-will or self-gov- 
ernment, and the moral is the good in so far as it is real- 
ized by the free will of a rational creature, and in this man- 
ifestation of rational life, the three elements of will, action, 
and end in view, must be moral. 

The simple and the true notion of the good is indicated 

(6) 



THE IDEA AND SCOPE. 



7 



in Gen. i : 3, 4, 31. We have here the notion, not 
merely of the relatively good, but of the absolutely good, 
of a harmonizing with God. For God himself is good (Ps. 
28: 5; Matt. 19: 17), and the perfect prototype and 
pattern of all morality; "because it is written, Ye shall be 
holy; for I am holy," 1 Pet. 1: 16; Lev. 11: 45. 

The Ethical Ideal is the Good. — The central aim of life, 
the ideal of self-government is the good, or the ethical 
ideal. The contents of this ideal can only be described 
as man himself, human personality conceived in its purity 
and perfection, as the one and universal type, which shall 
assume form in a realm of individuals. 

Human nature, that which constitutes man a man, is 
partly innate, when considered as the summary of natural 
gifts, and as such is treated of under Dogmatics, and partly 
acquired, and as such forms the subject of Ethics. 

Personal morality begins when man begins to do his 
duty, and " embraces the whole life and being of the spirit 
in all its forms of manifestation, as knowing, feeling, and 
willing. Moral knowing is faith, for the will is morally 
good when it rests on faith ; moral feeling is pleasure in the 
good, and love of it, and, on the other hand, displeasure 
in the non-good ; moral willing is a striving after the reali- 
zation of the good. ' ' ( Wuttke. ) 

Where our duty lies, and how we may find the aim of our 
life, Christ himself indicates, "I am the way, and the 
truth, and the life ; no one cometh unto the Father, but 
by me" (John 14: 6). How also this is brought about 
is stated in that other word of Christ, "I in them, and 



8 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



thou (0 Father) in me, that they may be perfected into 
one" (John 17: 23). We here note three things: (1) 
There is only one way to attain the great aim of life, — 
through Christ as the way ; (2) The great aim is to come 
unto the Father, — to be reconciled to him ; (3) Christ is 
the Way, the Reconciler, whether we suffer ourselves to be 
reconciled through him or not, even should no one enter 
that way. He is the Light of the world (John 8: 12), 
whether the world remain in darkness or not. 

This aim of our life, this duty, is our Christian pilgrim- 
age here on earth, it is " the race that is set before us " 
(Heb. 12 : 1), the running in the lists (1 Cor. 9 : 24), the 
pressing on, " if so be that I may apprehend that for which 
also I was apprehended by Christ Jesus ; not that I have 
already obtained, or am already made perfect " (Phil. 3 : 

12). 

Duty is the bond between the individual and the com- 
munity, and duty demands obedience and self-denial. 
Obedience must be the first aim of education, because it is 
the fundamental virtue of childhood. 

The ethical, therefore, may be defined as the normal 
condition of humanity, in so far as it is fashioned and 
worked out by human self-government. But the develop- 
ment of human talent receives moral importance only as it 
serves to the development of personality or character. 
But to cultivate one's natural gifts is not the same as to de- 
vote them to the service of morality. 

The three fundamental Ideas of the Good. — History 
shows that the science of Ethics has sometimes been con- 



THE IDEA AND SCOPE, 



9 



templated (i) as duty, as instruction in what ought to be 
done, and what ought to be avoided ; sometimes (2) as 
virtue, as instruction regarding the virtues and their oppo- 
site vices; sometimes (3) as the highest good, as instruction 
about a state of perfection, in the attainment and posses- 
sion of which he first finds his final satisfaction. 

But it is too narrow a conception of the subject which 
only takes in one of these points of view. A perfect sys- 
tem of ethics must embrace them all, as they only describe 
three sides of the same thing, and one of them always pre- 
supposes the other two. 

The Concept of Humanity. — When we speak of striving 
after the ideal of man, what man do we mean ? Do we 
speak of the man who was formed in God's image, who 
fell into sin, and thereby became fettered into an abnor- 
mal condition from which he cannot free himself, but from 
which Christ will redeem him ? Or do we speak of the man 
whom paganism describes, in whom the unaided light of 
reason has emerged in self-consciousness and free-will, who 
is his own centre, his own aim, and who on earth must 
work out only his own kingdom of reason, that of human- 
ity, but not the kingdom of God ? 

From these two concepts of humanity may be developed a 
two-fold morality, a worldly or autonomic morality, m which 
man is his own lawgiver, and has his aim within himself ; 
and a religious or theonomic morality, in which man really 
acknowledges himself as God's creature, the law of God as 
the law of his own being, and life in God as his highest 
aim. 



10 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



The autonomic system of Ethics has as factors only hu- 
man personality and nature ; the theonomic system has as 
its factors human personality, nature, and God. 

The fundamental conception of humanity is the concep- 
tion of man as a free rational being, who is first and fore- 
most a religious being, whose life of free-will in the world 
presupposes the relation of dependence upon God. The 
strongest contrast is not the contrast between human per- 
sonality and nature, but the contrast between human per- 
sonality and a personal God, between God's will and man's 
will, for the realm of human personality presupposes an 
eternal central personality, or God. 



SECTION II. 

RELIGION AND MORALITY CONTRASTED. 

Distinction between Morality and Religion. — Religion 
and morality are most closely and inseparably associated, 
yet they are not identical. A pious and religious life is 
also a moral one ; and morality is the practical outgoing 
of piety; so also every truly moral action implies religious 
faith, for " without faith it is impossible to be well-pleas- 
ing unto God" (Heb. n : 6). As being a religious being 
man permits the divine to rule in him ; as being a moral 
being, man seeks to give evidence of his obedience to the 
will of God. In religion, God is for us, in morality, we 
are for God ; in the former God is manifested to us ; in 
the latter God is manifested in and through us. In Rom. 



THE IDEA AND SCOPE. 



ii 



8 : 14, " For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these 
are the sons of God," we have the essence of religion; 
while in Gal. 2 : 20, "I live, yet no longer I, but Christ 
liveth in me," we have the essence of Christian morality 
( Wuttke). 

Union with God would never take place if the personal 
God did not Himself make advances towards man through 
his revealed Word. The first relation of man to God is 
therefore the religious, in which God works in the human 
soul to prepare it for Himself as a dwelling. The first 
moment of the religious relation is one of passivity, in 
which, however, man cannot avoid being acted upon by 
the enlightening and awakening influences which proceed 
from God's revelation and presence. In faith there is a 
free submission of the human will to the divine, and in 
faith the ethical and the religious are in primitive union. 

In faith man is united to God, in morality he strives to 
become so. To faith the Kingdom of God is come already, 
and its completion is anticipated in hope ; the moral con- 
sciousness has the good before it as a task and possible at- 
tainment, by the efforts of the free-will. 

Morality and religion are thus not at all one and the 
same thing, but they are indissolubly associated. 

Distinction between Worldly and Religious Morality. — In 
the biblical and Christian sense there can be no true mor- 
ality without religion and faith in God (Heb. 11 : 6). 
That there is a morality without religion, — when a man's 
life is regulated by the mere idea of humanity without the 
true idea of God, — can be seen from such instances as the 



12 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



Stoics, but this we designate as a worldly morality, and 
not as religious. 

A worldly morality, however, makes human self-con- 
sciousness to be the regulative norm, and man to be " the 
aim and end ' ' of all things. 

History corroborates the assertion that abstract auto- 
nomic morality only appears at those seasons when there is 
also religious decay. 

Insufficiency of Worldly Morality. — It is the teaching of 
Christianity that since the entrance of sin into the world, 
and its continuance as a sorrowful heirloom of human na- 
ture, we are not able to achieve the truly good, because we 
ourselves are not good, and our will is naturally corrupt, 
and we need help from above to do what we ought to do, 
or to acquire a really good will. We need to be regener- 
ated — not merely to receive by grace the forgiveness of sin, 
and to be acknowledged as just before God, but also, as 
the Apostle says, "to become partakers of the divine na- 
ture" (2 Pet. 1 : 4), which is the alone good; for "none 
is good save one, even God" (Mark 10: 18); and that 
only in this way can we obtain the possibility of even be- 
ginning a really moral life, that is, a life of holiness. 



THE IDEA AND SCOPE. 



13 



SECTION III. 

CHRISTIAN MORALITY. 

The Essential Character of Christian Morality. — What 
is peculiar in Christian morality rests on its religious as- 
sumptions. These may all be summed up in the one : The 
incarnation of God in Christ. Christ has not merely given 
us instruction, but " He has left us an example, that we 
should follow his steps " (1. Pet. 2: 21). 

Does Christianity acknowledge the worth of morality in 
its worldly sphere, or does it require that all morality 
should be immediately religious? Real Christianity will 
not disturb moral life in its worldly sphere (the family and 
the state, culture and civilization), but will hallow it, 
making it the organ, instrument, means, for the building 
up of God's kingdom on earth. The spirit of Christ may 
be present not merely in the Church, but in the market, in 
the artist's studio, with the mariner, with the warrior dur- 
ing the tumult of battle. 

The relation of Christianity to the world has been 
pointed out by Christ himself in the two parables, the 
Pearl of Great Price, and of the Leaven (Matt. 13; 45, 
33). The first parable represents the Kingdom of God in 
the purely religious sphere as the one thing needful, for 
which all other things are to be sacrificed. The second 
represents God's Kingdom in its worldly sphere as an all- 
penetrating, all transforming principle. If Christianity is 
contemplated exclusively as the pearl, it then becomes a 
world-renouncing asceticism, as we see in the case of the 



14 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



monks and the pietists. If, on the other hand, it is con- 
templated exclusively as the leaven, the idea arises that the 
Church will ere long become superfluous, be merged in the 
State, in worldly morality, and in culture. 

Catholicism and Protestantism Contrasted. — In Catho- 
licism the primary relation of dependence on Christ is re- 
pressed, and stress is laid on the relation of dependence on 
the hierarchy of the Church {a) a hierarchy on earth (the 
priesthood), and (F) a hierarchy in heaven (the Virgin 
Mary and the Saints), a host of self-elected mediators be- 
tween God and Man. 

The true relation of dependence is expressed in the 
formal, and material principles of Protestantism ; the for- 
mal, the Holy Scripture as the supreme rule and guide in 
doctrine; the material, justification by faith alone, in 
Jesus Christ. 

That sinful man may be justified before God, or ac- 
knowledged by God as righteous, means, that the atone- 
ment of grace which is Christ's work, is appropriated by 
the individual man, that the forgiveness of sins is bestowed 
on him, and that he is received of God. No human ac- 
tion can avail to make me righteous in the sight of God, 
or place me in normal relation to him ; no effort of my 
own, no self-purification, can blot out my sin and my trans- 
gression. In free and abounding mercy God has forgiven ; 
and man can only by grace act the part of receiver, can 
only as hungering and thirsting receive the fulness of grace 
which is poured forth on him, can only, as the naked, per- 
mit himself to be clothed upon with Christ's righteousness. 



THE IDEA AND SCOPE. 



*5 



But this receptive relation cannot find place unless man has 
trust and confidence in the grace of Christ. And this 
trust or confidence has its origin in grace itself, and is the 
work of the Spirit in the heart. 

Justifying grace is for Protestantism the one pearl of 
great price, in exchange for which all human justification 
and all human wisdom must be relinquished. 

True Protestantism is not, like the faith of Catholicism, 
satisfied with being a creed, an acquiescence in the teach- 
ing of the Church, and a reception of the same ; it requires 

the total, appropriation of the heart by Christ. Justifica- 

I ' ■ 

tion by faith is not merely a doctrine, but the central doc- 
trine of true Protestantism, a living fi7'st principle, bearing 
in itself a whole world of consequences. 

As Protestants we teach the doctrine of the universal 
priesthood of believers. All Christians are alike before 
God, and there is here no difference between priests and 
laity. By this is not meant to exclude what the Lord has 
himself ordained, namely, a ministry for the proclamation 
of the word and the administration of the sacraments — but 
this it does imply, that all Christians have the same access 
to God's grace, and to Christ's cross, from which no papal 
or priestly infallibility can debar. 

In Catholic morality, the religious basis is the obedience 
of faith towards the Church, in Evangelical morality, it is 
a life of freedom and love by the grace of God. 

The Morality of Protestantism. — The Reformation in- 
troduced distinctions between those things which in Cath- 
olicism were obscurely mixed together. As it distinguished 



i6 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS- 



between the Word of God and the teaching of man, be- 
tween the Lord's appointments and man's devices, between 
divine and human right, so also between law and gospel 
justification and sanctification, faith and good works. 

The Forgiveness of my sins does not rest on my sancti- 
fication j my certainty of reconciliation requires a more 
steadfast and immovable foundation. This is Christ, the 
perfect One, appropriated by faith. 

According to Catholicism the State must borrow its au- 
thority from the Church — but the State is itself a divine 
institution, though it ought certainly to be permeated by 
religion, for the ultimate security of the State lies in Re- 
ligion. 

It is the principle of the Reformation that religion must 
continue to be the highest, the all-governing, all penetrat- 
ing power in every sphere of ordinary life, but its sover- 
eignty must be that of the Spirit, it must only work by 
means of the Word and the Spirit. 

In the Social Life of the present day we perceive three 
principal tendencies : 

(i) The Evangelical Protestant tendency, which desires 
to remain on the basis of the Reformation and strives after 
moral aims, in their connection with religious principle ; 
(2) the system of morality and politics, which disclaims 
religion; (3) Roman Catholicism, which has never yet 
yielded any of the pretentions it asserted in the Middle 
Ages, and which seeks to bring back the world to obe- 
dience to the Church, as a hierarchy. 

Lutheran Ethics and Reformed Ethics Contrasted.— -In 



THE IDEA AND SCOPE. 



17 



all essential points the ethical systems cf the Reformed and 
Lutheran Churches are in harmony, still we can distinguish 
between them. Generally speaking, the Lutheran Church 
shows a greater faculty than the Reformed for cultivation 
of the inner life, whilst the Reformed shows more energy 
in acts of outward practical activity ; the one is Mary, and 
the other is Martha, and the Lord loved them both. The 
Lutheran Christian does good works because he is certain 
of his salvation through faith ; the Reformed does them in 
order that he may become certain of his saving faith, and 
hence of his election. The morality of the Lutheran 
church develops itself rather from the fulness of inner life 
toward knowledge, that of the Reformed rather from 
knowledge toward fulness of life ; the former is directed 
more inwardly, the latter more outwardly. The Lutheran 
needs the law and its discipline, strictly speaking, only in 
so far as he has as yet in himself sinful elements ; but to 
the Reformed, the law is a real and necessary guide for the 
regenerated heart itself. Hence, to the Reformed, the 
Gospel wears essentially also the character of law in the Old 
Testament sense, and the Old Testament law is taken lit- 
erally as yet binding, — hence the rigid observance of the 
Sabbath (the Lutheran never uses the word Sabbath but 
always speaks of it as the Lord's Day or Sunday) and the pro- 
hibition of statues and pictures in churches. In the Luth- 
eran view the law has essentially the purpose of educating to- 
ward the true freedom of the children of God, which free- 
dom itself, when once attained, has no longer any need of 
an outward law ; in the Reformed view the law is an es- 
3 



i8 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



sential part of the Christian life of faith itself, but still an 
objective, purely divine element still external to the re- 
generated subject. The Lutheran has the law rather as his 
inward personal property, the Reformed rather as a cate- 
gorical imperative external to his own subjective will. To 
the Lutheran, Moses and Christ stand in sharp contrast to 
each other; to the Reformed they are most intimately 
united ; to the Lutheran, Christ is, in ethical respects, 
rather the beloved Saviour, out of love to whom and in 
communion with whom he lives in holiness ; to the Re- 
formed he is more the moral pattern by which man is con- 
stantly learning and which he endeavors to imitate. Hence 
Lutheran Ethics appears predominantly as the doctrine of 
Virtue and the Good, Reformed Ethics as the doctrine 
of Law. The former proceeds from the inner life-source 
of the regenerated heart ; the latter sets out from the un- 
conditional will' of God to man. Lutheran Ethics ex- 
presses in its doctrine of salvation, the transfiguration of 
the human through indwelling grace, Reformed Ethics 
rather the glorifying of God in and through the elect. 
These are some of the differences, which while they indeed 
manifest a general ethical antithesis of the two forms of 
doctrine, nevertheless in fact complement each other, and 
it is freely admitted on both sides that there is much to be 
learned and to be received from the other, — still a distinc- 
tion will always remain. 1 



1 Abridged from Wuttke. 



THE IDEA AND SCOPE. 



19 



SECTION IV. 

CHRISTIAN ETHICS AND DOGMATICS CONTRASTED. 

Relation of Ethics to Dogmatics. — Although Dogmatics 
and Ethics are to be treated as different and distinct 
sciences, yet the difference between them is only relative. 
Dogmatics gives an answer to the question, What thinkest 
thou of Christ ? Ethics, to the question, What thinkest 
thou of the true character of a Christian upon earth? 
Dogmatics teaches what is, and was, and what infallibly 
shall be. Ethics, what ought to be, and along with this 
what ought not to be. Dogmatics wills that man accept 
the truth ; Ethics wills that he do it. 

In Dogmatics we recognize pre-eminently God and His 
dealings in relation to man and the world, and man's de- 
pendence on God and these dealings. In Ethics we re- 
cognize pre-eminently man and his acting in relation to the 
life-tasks appointed him by God. In Dogmatics, sin is 
acknowledged principally as universal depravity in its ne- 
cessary development; in Ethics, it is considered princi- 
pally in its manifold individual instances, both in social 
life and in regard to each person separately. 

So likewise the doctrine of the person of Christ must 
have a place both in Dogmatics and Ethics. In Dogmatics, 
however, Christ is acknowledged emphatically as the Re- 
deemer ; in Ethics, he is represented as the model for our 
imitation. Sanctification, too, comes under two different 
phases. In Dogmatics, it is regarded chiefly from the 
stand-point of the operations of grace; in Ethics, from 



20 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



that of free-will. So also the doctrine of the Church ap- 
pears both in Dogmatics and Ethics. In Dogmatics the 
Church stands forth pre-eminently as God's work, institu- 
tion, and ordinance ; in Ethics, as an institution which is 
produced by the activity of believers in building on the 
foundation of the divine appointment and institution. 
" Upon this rock I will build my Church ; and the gates 
of Hades shall not prevail against it" (Matt. 16: 18). 
This is dogmatic. " Seek that ye may abound unto the 
edifying of the Church ' ' (i Cor. 14: 12). This is ethical. 

The Biblical Character of Ethics. — Just as Dogmatics 
must have a biblical character, the same holds good with 
regard to Ethics. To read the Scriptures with a dogmatic 
eye, however, is not the same thing as to read them with 
an ethical eye, and the ethical study of Scripture, in the 
Gospels, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Epistles, will 
bring to light matters which a merely doctrinal consider- 
ation would not take into account. This is especially the 
case in regard to the central point in Holy Scripture, — the 
person of Christ. Ethical Christology, which apprehends 
Christ as our model for imitation, must represent one side 
of his glory, which is only partially given in dogmatic 
Christology. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE POSTULATES OF CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



SECTION I. 

THE THEOLOGICAL POSTULATE. 

The Ethical Concept of God. — " None is good save one, 
even God" (Mark 10: 18). But God could not be the 
alone Good, if He were not the perfect personality. For 
the Good, in the ethical import of the term, is not to be 
found except in personality, and within its realm. Perfect 
goodness has perfect knowledge and power as its attributes. 
God, the perfect in will, is at the same time the All-wise 
and All-powerful. 

The question has been asked, if the Good is good be- 
cause God wills it, or if He wills the Good because it is in 
itself good. The Scotists in the Middle Ages maintained 
the first, Plato and Thomas Aquinas the second. The so- 
lution of these difficulties must be sought in the conception 
of personality itself, and the two theories must be recog- 
nized as expressing two sides of Absolute Personality. For 
the idea of Personality is not merely to concur, but to orig- 
inate ; not merely to be the Good, but also to produce the 
Good. God is the perfect unity of the ethically necessary 

(21) 



22 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



and the ethically free ; and thus the perfect realization of 
the Good, the eternal origin and prototype for the whole 
world of created spirits. 

So soon as there exists a consciousness of God, all good 
must be referred absolutely to God's will ; whatever God 
wills is good, and whatever is good is God's will. 

God the Alone Good.- As the perfect realization of the 
Good, God is raised above the contrast between the actual 
and the ideal, in which each free creature finds itself. 
His will is not, like that of man, subjected to a "must" 
and an "ought" which has to be fulfilled by a temporal 
development and effort. His will cannot be altered like 
that of a man, it is unchangeable, the same yesterday, to- 
day, and forever. This thought not merely calls us to hu- 
mility, but at the same time breathes into us hope and con- 
solation. We are comforted and strengthened by knowing 
that there is One who is good, — that above all the confu- 
sion of the world, above the fickle and changing will of 
man, above folly and sin and misery, there yet exists a will 
essentially good, to which belongs power and dominion, 
a will in itself holy, which throughout all earthly changes 
and vicissitudes remains the same, and throughout eternity 
maintains fidelity towards itself, neither deceiving nor de- 
nying itself. 

God as Perfect Love.— -God is not merely perfect free- 
dom, but also perfect love (i John 4: 7-16). In order 
that we may be able to speak of the love of God, it is in- 
dispensably necessary that this love has communicated it- 
self to us. And as He has revealed Himself to us, so ought 



THE POSTULATES, 



23 



we to receive Him, and only by His own Spirit seek to un- 
derstand and conceive the things which God has prepared 
for us (1 Cor. 2 : 9). 

God as the unity of holy love, almighty power, and perfect 
wisdom. — God is the unity of holy love, almighty power, 
and perfect wisdom. This is manifest in the act of crea- 
tion, in which almighty love creates with wisdom, that is 
to say, teleologically, or with certain ends in view. 

Our ethical concept of God as the Almighty One in- 
cludes also the concept of an eternal nature. But to speak 
of a nature in God is not at all the same thing as to speak 
of a material substance in God. 

God a Triune God. — As Father, Son, and Spirit, as 
Creator, Redeemer, and Sanctifier, God reveals Himself as 
the perfect manifester of His character. And faith in the 
triune God has great importance for Ethics. If love is 
really God's eternal essence, then God must also from eter- 
nity have possessed a perfect object for His love, and the 
world cannot be its first and essential object. God must 
have in Himself the eternal and perfect object of His love, 
must live in Himself a perfectly satisfied life of love, and 
this is the love of the Father and the Son in the unity of 
the Holy Spirit. If Dogmatics had not asserted and de- 
veloped the doctrine of the Trinity, Martensen holds, that 
Ethics must postulate the doctrine in its own interests. 



24 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



SECTION II. 

THE ANTHROPOLOGICAL POSTULATE. 

Man formed in the image of God. — Scripture lays great 
stress upon the fact that man was created in the image and 
likeness of God (Gen. i : 27 : James 3 : 9). As God cre- 
ated man in his own image, man is a personal creature, 
and not merely a member of nature, but belongs to the 
realm of self consciousness and self-government But the 
idea of personality is inseparable from that of society and 
love. Man's formation in the image of God must there- 
fore be more closely defined as his fitness for God's 
kingdom. 

But in order that God's kingdom may really be the king- 
dom of free love, free devotion, and obedience, man has a 
certain relative independence towards God, and is able to 
have a kingdom of his own. The unity of the kingdom 
of God and the kingdom of man, conceived in its com- 
pleteness, is the perfection of the Good, and the fulfilled 
destiny of man. 

Man, through sin has lost the original image of God, 
and in the Scriptures Christ is called by pre eminence the 
true image of God (Heb. 1 : 3), and man is called into the 
kingdom of God to become like this image (Rom. 8 : 29). 
It is the great aim of the believer to renew this image and 
put on the new man (Eph. 4: 24; Col. 3: 10). 

In the kingdom of man, human society appears first as 
civilized society, and then may develop as the society of 
mutual love between men, and as a society of justice ; but 



THE POSTULATES. 



25 



it can never attain its great aim, unless it appears as reli- 
gious society, as the society of love to God, and this must 
permeate all the different circles in which men move. 

Man a Creature possessed of soul and body. — Man is 
a being possessed of soul and body, a union of spirit and na- 
ture. Between spirit, soul, and body, there is constant 
mutual intercourse. The central point is the soul, which is 
the most human thing in man. It is by the qualities of 
soul that we characterize the ethical personality. It is the 
soul that loves and is loved. It can sympathize both with 
the intellectual and what is apparent to the senses, the 
heavenly and the earthly, the infinite and the finite, be- 
cause it is itself the marvelous being which is the union 
of both. 

As the faculties of the soul, we generally name the intel- 
lect, the sensibilities, and the will. But of these will has 
the first place. Our will is emphatically our very self, our 
inmost being. And if any would object that the Scriptures 
speak of the heart as the most essential part of the life of 
the soul, and of good and evil thoughts as issuing from the 
heart, we observe, that the heart is the will in its union 
with the sensibilities, specially considered from the practi- 
cal side. 

The superiority of man's destiny to that of all other crea- 
tures, his ethical destiny, displays itself not merely in his 
possession of mind and soul, but also in his bodily frame. 
Not his upright walk alone, but also the human countenance 
points him out as the lord of nature, and as the being who 
has a divine mission to execute on earth. Among the bod- 



26 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



ily organs which in an emphatic manner suggest man's 
ethical destiny, we specially name the human hand. By 
means of his moulding, fashioning hand, man stamps his 
impress upon nature, and founds his sovereignty of civili- 
zation. By it he becomes the inventor of many arts. With 
the hand man performs alike his good and evil deeds, his 
acts of noblest heroism and crimes of deepest dye. Thus 
he folds his hands in prayer in token that in presence of 
God he disclaims all self-dependence and self-dominion, 
and humbles himself under the hand of the Most High. 
He bestows his blessing by the laying on of hands, and 
gives his hand to his neighbor in pledge of amity and good 
faith. 

'The Sours relation to its organism. — Every human per- 
sonality has a fixed individuality, an inherent originality, 
by which this single being is distinguished from all others. 
The perception of this original element in every creature, 
is the truth contained in Creationism. Every man is an 
eternal individuality framed in the image of God, and 
bears within himself the possibility of eternal life in bliss. 

Every man is infinitely richer in his being" than in his 
performance, is infinitely more than he shows himself or 
can show himself to be. 

Individuality stamps not merely the soul of man, but also 
his bodily frame. It is not by chance that a certain indi- 
viduality of soul carries along with it a certain bodily form, 
for it is the soul which fashions the body. 

This is generally acknowledged in the physiognomy of 
the face, in which is perceived a visible index, not merely 



THE POSTULA TES. 2 7 

of the intellectual, but also of the moral being/ the inhe- 
rent qualities of the individual, whether considered as char- 
acter, or only as individual capacity. But the human soul 
is not one and the same with the bodily frame, and this is 
the cause of the uncertainity, at times, of physiognomy, 
since more is contained within the human soul than ever 
appears. 

Lavater demands that we endeavor to read God's hand- 
writing in every human countenance, because he maintains 
that no face of man is so hideous that there is not to be 
found in it traces of the dignity of human nature and its 
likeness to God. Though in his application he made many 
mistakes, nevertheless there is some truth in this theory. 
The most wicked, depraved, worthless man is still a man. 
No man ceases to be a man, even when when he appears to 
sink far below the dignity of manhood. So long as he is 
not a beast (and as little as a beast can become a man can 
a man become a beast), so long is he capable of improve- 
ment and perfectibility. Great things can be accom- 
plished, and what seems impossible to man, is possible 
with God. 

Individuality and Perso7iality. — Man's eternal individ- 
uality, the basis of his character and his faculty, is given 
him by his Creator and determined unalterably beforehand. 
No man will ever be able to attain a higher degree of per- 
fection than has been planned in the possibilities of his 
existence. 

The ethical development of personality must be effected 
through the natural individuality, which is determined by 
bent and disposition, feeling and temperament. 



28 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



The natural individuality is from the first relatively- 
changeable ; we say relatively, because there is an innate 
disposition (temperament) which the man must carry along 
with him throughout all the stages of life. But since the 
natural individuality is plastic and susceptible of modifica- 
tion, man must seek to form, overcome, rule, and modify 
his natural individuality into an organ of personality. 

The Development of Personality. — The development of 
personality is effected by assimilation and production. As- 
similation is the most important, and is not merely phy- 
sical, but, moreover, a mental process. From childhood 
we are nourished not merely by bodily but also by mental 
food. There is much truth in the assertion of the mate- 
rialists, that man is what he eats. There is, however, a 
necessity for a mental as well as for a bodily system of diet- 
etics. The more culture and civilization advance in the 
world, the more important becomes the requirement to be 
careful about mental appropriation. How frivolous many 
persons are in the choice of their reading. What a deep 
meaning in Christ's saying, that He is the Bread of life, 
not merely his teaching, but Himself as the right, pure, 
and heavenly food. 

What man appropriates or assimilates, he must work out 
and perfect by his own exertion. For a man is 5 or becomes 
more and more like to what he loves, or to that to which 
he devotes his service. 

Selfishness and self-denying devotion are fundamental 
forms for the development of personality. The powers in 
whose service we have placed ourselves impress on us their 
mark and seal, and these we must bear. 



THE POSTULATES. 



29 



The outward body is fashioned as instrument and ex- 
pression of the personality, and assumes in many ways an 
impress of the moral or immoral (the physiognomy of char- 
acter). The inward frame is also fashioned by the affec- 
tions, passions, and efforts of the soul, and by repetition 
and habit its second nature. We all work at this inward 
frame whether we are aware of it or not. Incessantly we 
spin, weave, and knit our inward garment, which, unlike 
our outer garment, can never be cast aside, because it is in- 
terwoven with our Ego, and in it our soul, our will, shall 
be arrayed, when, after laying down the material body, it 
shall enter eternity. Everything will depend on the spirit- 
ual power to which our Ego has devoted its service, and 
for what kingdom we have been ripening. 

Bent or Inclination. — The destiny of man is shadowed 
forth in human desires and inclinations. The inclination 
is the inmost nature, striving for development. This in- 
clination, through longing or desire, may amount to pas- 
sion. 

Some have held that there is but one indispensable im- 
pulse in man, namely, that of self-preservation. Martensen 
names as esssential impulses : 

(1) Appropriation and production ; and 

(2) Egoism and love, the autopathic and the sym- 
pathetic. 

As the human life of personality has the twofold destiny 
of a life in God, and a life in the world, we name as the 
deepest impulses of human nature, (r) the worldly impulse, 
and (2) the impulse of God's kingdom. 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



The deepest contrast is therefore not between (i) mental 
and physical, nor (2) between autopathic and sympathetic ; 
but (3) between the sacred and the worldly. 

Both the worldly impulse and that of God's kingdom 
has its autopathic and its sympathetic side, and each of them 
strives after both appropriation and production. 

The worldly and the divine impulses co7itrasted. — The 
worldly impulse is the inclination to a complete life in the 
world, to a harmonious, self-satisfied worldly existence, 
which we designate by the term happiness. As such it has 
its aim in the world, and does not lead us beyond the 
horizon of the consciousness of the world and of ourselves. 

The impulse towards God does not aim after happiness, 
but after blessedness, the full and perfect life in God and in 
God's Kingdom. It incites man to seek his centre not in 
himself, or in the world, but in God. Thus faith is an act 
of the highest appropriation, and at the same time an act 
of deepest devotion. 

Worldliness the characteristic feature of man. — The char- 
acteristic feature of man in the condition of sin may be 
designated as worldliness. Man has become a man of the 
world instead of a man of God, a citizen of the world with- 
out right of citizenship in heaven. Both appropriation 
and production give evidence of this. His producing 
energy is essentially directed towards worldly aims and in- 
terests, fields and merchandise, wife and children, politics, 
art, and worldly science ; but to work for God's kingdom, 
he is too slothful and unfit. His devotion is only devotion 
to the world. 



THE POSTULATES. 



31 



Within this wide domain of worldliness is found an end- 
less variety of individual character. Human egoism also de- 
velops itself the more it advances and increases, until it at- 
tains the Titanic and Promethean character, until it be- 
comes the man of Sin, seating itself in God's place, and 
desiring to be worshiped as God (2 Thess. 2 : 4). 

The Development of Sin. — Egoism may develop itself as 
either predominantly physical or predominantly intellec- 
tual. In the first case, man sinks in self-degradation ; in 
the other, he elevates himself by a false self-exaltation 
above his sphere. This false self-degradation and false self- 
exaltation, sensuality and arrogance, are both fundamental 
forms of sin. Though opposed to each other, yet they are 
always found together, and there is no individual who sins 
exclusively in the one direction. The history of asceticism, 
monachism, and particularly of spiritualism, affords many 
illustrations of the importance of the Apostle's exhortation, 
"wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed 
lest he fall" (1 Cor. 10: 12). 

The more strongly sin develops itself as self-exaltation, 
the more closely does man come to resemble the devil and 
his angels. From self-exaltation spring falsehood, dissim- 
ulation, infidelity and treachery. 

The more sin advances in the sensual direction, the more 
men resemble beasts. The middle region between these 
extreme points in the realm of sin is occupied by covetous- 
ness in its various forms. 

The Apostle John (1 John 2 : 16) names as the princi- 
pal forms of the love of the word (1) the lust of the flesh — 



3* 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



sensuality, (2) the lust of the eyes — covetousness in its dif- 
ferent forms, and (3) the vain-glory of life — arrogance. 

Some one of these three lusts exists in every man, and 
they constantly pass over into one another, but the princi- 
pal sources of sin are arrogance (self-exaltation) and sen- 
sual appetite, and of these arrogance lies deepest, so that 
very often the man himself is entirely unconscious of it, 
whilst quite aware of his offences in the direction of sense. 

The Universality of Sin. — " All have sinned, and come 
short of the glory of God " (Rom. 3 : 23). But where 
sin is, there also is reckoned guilt. But the ideas of guilt 
and responsibility stand or fall with the idea of the freedom 
of the human will, which now remains to be considered. 

The Will as free and as bound. — Human freedom is not 
like that of God, absolute, but conditioned, a freedom in 
created dependence. In his individuality each man has 
not only his endowment, but also his limitations. The hu- 
man soul leads a twofold existence, one clear as day and 
self-conscious, the other obscure and unconscious, and in 
its dim abyss it holds some contents which never fully 
emerge into the light. But the free-will of God is perfect, 
and only when man devotes himself adoringly to God, and 
man's will is in perfect accordance with God's will, can it 
be said that man is truly free. 

The Character of the will produced by choice. — The des- 
tiny of man, his ideal being, is liberty itself in its unity 
with love. Through freedom of choice, which is not re- 
stricted to one single moment, but extends throughout a 
series of acts of choice, the will must stand its test, must be 



THE POSTULATES. 33 

tried and tempted. The character of the human will is al- 
ways produced by choice. For the character is the radical 
impress which the will assumes from the series of its acts. 

The Determination of my will depends on motives. — The 
will is determined by external motives and by incentives 
from within, to a certain line of action. So, too, there are 
sedatives or quietives which set the will at rest. Motives 
and quietives are essentially the same, in so far as they are 
both grounds of determination for the will. But they 
point to two opposite movements of the will, either as 
striving, pursuing, laboring, or as resigning, and relin- 
quishing its aspirations. What kind of motives or quiet- 
ives shall affect me, rests on the inmost determination or 
direction of my will, or if this is not yet stamped on it, on 
my choice. 

The Will as enslaved by sin. — The will in its actual na- 
ture is not absolutely free, in the way that it is able to will 
independently of the quality of the human Ego; for by 
freedom of the will nothing is to be asserted, except that 
the willing man, in his concrete willing directed to a defi- 
nite object, is limited by nothing but his own proper in- 
clination. There exists no such thing as an abstract self- 
determined will, for the will is dependent on the quality 
of the Ego. 1 

By the fall, and by the universal and hereditary sinful- 
ness which was thus originated, the will of man has become 
an enslaved will, so that man outside the sphere of grace 
and redemption cannot do other than sin, and only through 
1 Compare Harless' Ethics, § II. 

4 



34 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



the creative influences of grace, to which the will of man is 
related as a passive vessel, can it again become free. In 
Adam we have all sinned, we are branches of the de- 
generate tree of the race which can only be restored by a 
new creation, and Adam's guilt is inherited by us. 

This is the biblical view of the nature of man's will, but 
Martensen, being synergistic in his views, calls it religious 
Determinism, and says : "When it is maintained that we 
cannot do other than sin, the truth in this assertion is only 
that we cannot be free from sin ... . and it is not true 
that we are incapable of receiving or rejecting the redemp- 
tion and emancipation which the Gospel of Christ offers 
to us." 

To which we simply remark, that man has the power by 
his own strength to reject the message of the Gospel, for 
the natural will has the liberty of choice in regard to what 
is evil, but that he cannot by his own strength even cher- 
ish a desire for salvation, much less accept the precious 
truths in the Gospel, but this power is wrought in his heart 
by the grace of the Spirit, through the Word (i Cor. 2 : 
14; Rom. 10 : 17). 

Indeterminism and Determinism. — According to Inde- 
terminism the will is never in any sense fixed, but hovers 
indifferently over all motives. This view overlooks the 
fact that the human will is in many ways determined by 
the natural individuality of the person, by innate disposi- 
tion, by former acts, and by habit. 

Exactly opposed to this view is the doctrine of Determi- 
nism which teaches the absolute unchangeableness and re- 



THE POSTULATES. 



35 



liability of human character — that the motive is an irresisti- 
ble motor, and that these motives from within produce 
their results as invariably as physical forces effect their 
ends. 

The Will is not under Natural Necessity. — In opposi- 
tion to all Determinism, we maintain that the will is not 
under natural necessity, and not destitute of personality. 
That men may sink so deep in the thraldom of sin that they 
have no longer any choice, does not disprove the assertion 
that there is a sphere of liberty, in which they may make 
the motives of conscience, duty and honor, the ruling 
principles in their lives. 

Is there any truth in determinism ? — Whatever truth 
there may be in Determinism, when it asserts that the hu- 
man character is unchangeable, lies in this, that no man 
can divest himself of his original nature, which in its es- 
sence remains the same from the cradle to the grave. The 
character is indeed fixed by a succession of actions, and 
the will, by persisting in sin and worldliness, may frame to 
itself a false organism, a body of sin, yet we maintain that 
a break may occur in the development of character, in 
which a change of mind may take place, a conversion, a 
true repentance. We must, however, also make allowance 
for diversity in temperaments, and in the circumstances 
surrounding a man's early life. 

TJie truth of Determinism supplemented. — The funda- 
mental maxim of Determinism, "As thou art, so thou act- 
est," contains a fundamental truth, but it must be supple- 
mented by another maxim: " As thou actest, just so will 



36 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



thou become and continue," that is to say, by thy actions, 
by the assimilation and thy whole course of operation, 
thou art thyself determining what shall become of thee. 
% Man, by appropriating grace, must mould and set the 
stamp upon his will, must make his tree of life good or cor- 
rupt. In answer to all deterministic views, we maintain, 
that even the best among us, when they look back on their 
past lives and make conscientious confession, will acknowl- 
edge that there are many things which not merely should 
and ought, but also which might have been otherwise ; and 
in this the fault has been our own. 



SECTION III. 

THE COSMOLOGICAL AND SOTERIOLOGICAL POSTULATE. 

The Moral Order of the World. — A moral order of the 
world, where account is made of each individual, and in 
which each has his own special task and his own special 
conduct of life, is inconceivable without a living, personal 
God, who is the creator and instructor of these individ- 
uals. 

We conceive of the divine will as a will of eternal wis- 
dom, which has not merely embodied itself in the system 
of the laws of the universe, but also reveals itself in its di- 
versity from the world, as the Lord of Nature and of the 
course of the World, but always in harmony, with the law 
of its own being, of love and holiness. 

In the moral world, the economy of providence is forced 



THE POSTULATES. 37 

* 

to assume the character of an economy of redemption and 
regeneration, in which the law was given by Moses, but 
mercy and truth came by Christ. 

The Christian View of the World. — The Christian view 
of the world is opposed to the fatalistic and deterministic 
apprehension of history, which regards this as a process 
of physical necessity. The purpose of God must be ful- 
filled, but the manner in which it is brought about is con- 
ditional on freedom of choice, and in the course of events 
there is always something incalculable, hypothetical and 
problematic. 

God's dealings with the human race must be regarded as 
educational — it may be considered under the type of the 
wandering of the children of Israel through the desert. 

The Aim of History. — Scripture teaches that the aim of 
history is the education of man for the kingdom of God ; 
and there is a tradition, a transmission, an inheritance, a 
capital of experience, which passes from generation to gen- 
eration, by means of which the consciousness of the unity 
of the human race and the intellectual and hearty connec- 
tion between forefathers and descendants are preserved. 

The contrast is ever becoming more apparent between 
those who voluntarily place themselves under the educa- 
tional guidance of God, and those who wander in their own 
way. 

The Education of the Individual — It is not the race as 
such which is to be educated. On the contrary, it is indi- 
viduals which are to be educated, just because the human race 
is an organization of personal individuals, and the kingdom 



3* 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



of God to which they are to be educated is a realm of sa- 
cred and sanctified individuals. 

Christianity requires that the kingdom of God shall come 
to every man, and ascribes to every human soul an infinite 
value. 

If we wish to understand history in its bearings, we must 
from the many special histories, from political history, 
Church history, history of art, of trade and industry, and 
many others, go back to the history of man as the history 
of histories. 

A beginning and coming fulfilment of this aim of hu- 
manity and of human history is found wherever the king- 
dom of God is realized in the human soul, wherever per- 
sonalities are moulded and ripened for the kingdom of 
God. 

Every-day history and the history of the world are only 
different forms of human history. Every historical event 
owes its intrinsic value or worthlessness to its relation to 
God. God desires first of all to have regenerate men, pre- 
pared for every good work. God desires a temple of living 
stones, a temple which throughout time, though concealed, 
ever waxes in greatness and extent, but which shall only 
shine forth in eternal glory and brightness when this world 
is at an end, when the day dawns. 



THE POSTULATES. 



39 



SECTION IV. 

THE ESCHATOLOGICAL POSTULATE. 

The End of History and the Completion of God 's king- 
dom. — The teaching of Christianity concerning the final 
result of all things, tells us that history has not merely an 
aim, but also an end. Every judgment in time, whether it 
be in the history of the world, or in the history of the indi- 
vidual man, is only a partial judgment, which moreover 
very frequently is very imperfectly apparent to the man's 
own consciousness. Every partial judgment, therefore, 
points to a future and more perfect one. 

The Ethical Fundamental Ideas. — On the Postulates as 
here presented rests the difference between Christian and 
Pagan Ethics. 

Only from the point of view given by Eschatology can 
we fully comprehend the problems of human life. 

It is not only the Old Covenant which calls on men to 
"Remember thy latter end," but also under the New 
Covenant it reminds us "That we must all appear before 
the judgment-seat of Christ." 

Christian Dogmatics, which is designed as a representa- 
tion of the facts of revelation in their successive order, be- 
gins with the Conception of God, the Creation, and ter- 
minates eschatologically with the end of all things. 

Christian Ethics, in so far as, under the postulates of 
Dogmatics, it is designed to represent a practical view 
of the world and of life in its outline, begins eschatologi- 
cally with final destiny, or with the highest Good. 



FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES OF ETHICS. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE HIGHEST GOOD. 



SECTION I. 

THE KINGDOM OF GOD THE HIGHEST GOOD. 

God' 's Kingdom the Highest Good. — The kingdom of 
God, as the highest Good, is not merely the sacred realm 
of liberty and love, but, moreover, the blessed realm in 
which man finds his last and final satisfaction, or his peace. 

The highest Good, may be taken in a double sense ; (i) 
as bonum supremum, that which is superior to all other good 
things, in which man finds peace and rest, which he can 
find nowhere else; (2) as the bonum consummatum, the 
perfect Good, the epitome of all good things, containing 
within it the fulness of all perfection. 

In both significations the kingdom of God is the highest 
Good. (1) It is the one thing, the heavenly pearl, which 
is to be purchased by the sacrifice of all things. (2) But 
it is also the perfect and completed Good, the final Good, 
in the sense of future heavenly glory, that condition in 

(40) 



THE HIGHEST GOOD. 



4i 



creation in which both faith and hope are at an end, be- 
cause faith has passed into sight, and hope into fulfilment, 
and where only love remains behind. 

We may speak, therefore, of the kingdom of God as the 
perfect Good within its earthly conditions, as a typical 
representation of the future final condition of the kingdom 
of God. 

It is this kingdom of God upon earth, which, under the 
postulate of appropriating activity, is the task of ethical 
productivity ; whilst the heavenly kingdom of God is the 
task or problem for ethical expectation and receptivity, 
since we should prepare to receive the Lord. The glory of 
God's kingdom will, during this stage of existence, con- 
tinue to have a veiled presence. 

This highest Good cannot be realized unless man has a 
personal life-communion with God (John 17: 21; 1 John 
1 : 3), who is the perfectly Good One in an absolute sense 
(Mark 10 : 18) ; only he has the highest good who is rich 
toward God, (Luke 12 : 21), and who has everlasting trea- 
sures in heaven (Matt. 6: 20, 1 Tim. 6: 19). 

Difference between Bliss and Happiness. — In order that 
the words bliss and happiness may not be transposed and 
misapplied, and the heavenly be confounded with the 
earthly, we must fix more closely the relation between 
them. Bliss, though it begins in this earthly existence as 
peace and joy in God, has its true home, and its proper 
sphere in the world to come. Happiness is limited exclu- 
sively to the earth and to this present life. 

Happiness or Eudaimonism is an earthly conception, 



42 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



without necessarily including relation to God. The ethical 
systems of Paganism also give directions for attaining a 
happy life. The system of the Cynics and Stoics may be 
described as a higher form of Eudaimonism. Both Epic- 
ureans and Stoics desire happiness, and both arrive at the 
same goal, though by different routes. The great differ- 
ence between the mendicant monks and the Cynics is this, 
that the Cynics aspire after the happiness of the present 
world, while the monks aspire after eternal bliss. 

Plato occupies an exceptional position in this respect, 
in that he makes "likeness to God," the final aim of man, 
and teaches immortality in a future life. There is here a 
conception of blessedness, which though not the Christian 
one, is yet superior to Eudaimonism. In the Eleusinian 
mysteries, in which immortality was taught, we have also a 
like conception of blessedness. 

There are many who would combine happiness and bliss > 
they would unite the earthly and the heavenly, in such a 
way as to avoid the cross. The ascetics do not desire 
happiness in any sense, but only bliss, and regard mortifi- 
cation and suffering as the normal condition of earth. 

When Christ says : " Seek ye first the kingdom of God, 
and his righteousness ; and all these things shall be added 
unto you" (Matt. 6: 33), he implies that these other 
things have an inferior value, and are thus not entirely 
worthless. We must also remember that through many 
tribulations we must enter into the kingdom of God (Acts 
14: 22), and that all things work together for good to 
them that love God (Rom. 8 : 28). 



THE HIGHEST GOOD, 



43 



Mere happiness is not yet blessedness or bliss, and can- 
not satisfy the spiritual nature of man. The nine Beati- 
tudes of Christ (Matt. 5 : 1-11) relate to the moral, and 
not one of them to a mere state of earthly enjoyment or 
happiness. "All bliss, however, is love, and true love is 
bliss ; but only morally attained love is true love ; even 
true blessedness exists only in union with God, and peace 
of soul in the eternal. God has not appointed us unto 
wrath, but to obtain blessedness (1 Thess. 5 : 9) and he 
that looketh into the perfect law, the law of liberty, and so 
continueth, being not a hearer that forgetteth, but a doer 
that worketh, this man shall be blessed in his doing (James 
1 : 25). Blessed are they that hear the word of God, and 
keep it (Luke 11: 28), — keep it not merely in memory 
but in their heart, in love and in will." (Wuttke). 

■Happiness, even if it be preserved throughout a long 
life, must vanish at all events when death arrives. 

The Ideal of Earthly Happiness limited. — The limited 
character of the ideal of earthly happiness is also shown 
when we contemplate it from the standpoint of society. 
The conception of the golden age is that of a condition 
of society on earth, in which universal religion and mor- 
ality are combined with the harmonious development of all 
the powers of humanity and with the greatest possible sum 
of enjoyment and prosperity, both for the whole and for 
individuals. 

The highest religious representation of the golden period, 
is the representation of Messiah' s kingdom upon earth, 
which again has its strongest expression in Chiliasm, or in 



44 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



the doctrine of the Millennium (Christ's personal reign on 
earth with his saints for a thousand years). The kernel 
of Chiliasm, stripped of its visionary coloring, is the idea 
of the earthly sovereignty of Christianity. 

The perfect realization of the kingdom of God, and the 
complete sovereignty of Christ, shall first appear through 
a great crisis with the erection of the kingdom of heaven, 
which is not a realm of happiness, but of supreme blessed- 
ness and glory. 

In the Kingdom of God on earth we must fight with Evil. 
—It is in the hope of the future kingdom of bliss and glory 
that we work for God's kingdom on earth, assured that we 
are not laboring in vain. But the kingdom of God on 
earth can only be realized by a continued strife with Evil, 
and victory over it as the opposite of the Good. 



SECTION II. 

THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND THE KINGDOM OF SIN. 

The Kingdom of Sin.- — As the Good, considered as the 
destiny of man, is love to God and his Kingdom, the Evil 
can only be defined as the essential contrast to love, or as 
Egoism. 

Evil is sin, a disturbance of the normal relation of the 
will, not merely to an impersonal law of reason, but to the 
Creator — since the egoistic will does not desire that God 
should reign supreme over all things, but that itself should 
hold the place of ruler, use and enjoy the world in indepen- 



THE HIGHEST GOOD. 



45 



dence of God. The contest between the kingdom of God 
and the kingdom of sin on earth is bound up with the con- 
test in the higher world of Spirits. By the appearance of 
Christ, the opposition between Good and Evil amongst men 
was most fully manifested. 

Definition of the Highest Evil. — If the highest Good may 
be defined as the unity of sanctified love and blessedness, 
the highest Evil may be defined as the unity of sin and 
misery. The highest Evil (sufiremum malum) is sin itself, 
joined to consciousness of guilt and inward condemnation. 

The highest evil becomes the perfect evil (malum con- 
summatum) when all possibilities of change and improve- 
ment are exhausted, when every hope of deliverance is ex- 
tinguished, and when, in addition to the inward misery, 
comes a corresponding outward state of woe. We have an 
approximate image of the highest evil on earth, in the Ro- 
man Empire during its decay, and in the reign of terror in 
the French Revolution. But especially the word of Pro- 
phecy leads us to the contemplation of the last age of the 
world, when the Man of Sin shall be revealed (2 Thess. 
2:4).* 

The complete prophetic sketch of the highest Evil, both 
in the present and the future world, the torments of earth 
and hell, is given in the Book of Revelation, where there is 
likewise a representation of the highest Good, of the pro- 
gressive contest and victory of the kingdom of God. 



4 6 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



SECTION III. 

THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND THE KINGDOM OF THE WORLD. 

The Kingdom of the World — The expression "the 
world ' ' has in biblical language a peculiar ethical mean- 
ing. The nature of this world is twofold in its character. 
It bears the mark of opposing principles (the good and the 
evil), containing within it antagonistic elements and quali- 
ties which can never be reconciled ; thus giving evidence 
that it is doomed to destruction, in order that it may here- 
after arise again in restored harmony of form. It is a mid- 
dle sphere, neither Heaven nor Hell, but the vestibule of 
each. Therefore the kingdom of God stands in a double 
relation to this world, and regards it from a twofold point 
of view. On the one side, on account of sin, it is opposed 
to the kingdom of God, and is to be avoided and combated 
as an evil. "Love not the world, neither the things that 
are in the world " (i John 2: 15). "The friendship of 
the world is enmity with God " (James 4: 4). 

But on the other side the world is appointed to Re- 
demption (John 3 : 1 6) ; it is fitted to be organized for the 
kingdom of God. The field is the world (Matt. 13 : 38). 
From this we learn to appreciate the two views of life and 
of the world, which ever and anon recur in the human race 
— Optimism and Pessimism. 

Optimism and Pessimism contrasted. — Naturalistic Op- 
timism ignores sin and redemption, and assumes that this 
world still maintains its original condition, when " God 
saw everything that He had made, and, behold it was very 



THE HIGHEST GOOD. 



47 



good " (Gen. i : 3). Evil is considered as only a defect, 
a lack of wisdom, ignorance and barbarism, which are to 
be overcome by advancing culture. 

The view of life diametrically opposed to this, which we 
shall call Pessimism, assumes that the world originally, and 
from the beginning until now, has been and remains a vale 
of sorrow, that man was formed for suffering and for a dis- 
turbed development of life. 

Christianity is the truth both of Optimism and Pessi- 
mism. With the Pessimist it teaches that the whole world 
lieth in wickedness, that a man has a lost paradise behind 
him, and with the Optimist it teaches that it is possible for 
man to be redeemed, and that the gates of paradise be 
again opened for him. 

History shows that the productive periods of our race 
are those in which Optimism has predominated. It was 
the philosophy of the Greeks at the zenith of their great- 
ness, and is the ruling principle of the present age. 

Pessimism appears especially in the unhappy epochs of 
history. We see this in Plautus and the Roman satirists, 
as Juvenal, whose painting of the morals of his times agrees 
essentially with the description given of Paganism by the 
Apostle Paul in the first chapter of the Epistle to the Ro- 
mans, and which is certainly not an optimistic sketch. 

Goethe 1 s Optimism criticised. — Goethe may be regarded 
as the interpreter of the bright joyous life of the world. 
But his theory of life, like that of the ancients, had its aims 
entirely in this lower world, concerned itself only about 
happiness and resignation, whilst salvation and the kingdom 



43 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



of God lie entirely outside. One of the elements of Goe- 
the's greatness lies in this, that the heroes of his works are 
but portraitures of his own inner being, at different epochs 
in the development of his own life. He is himself Werther, 
whose unhappy love he has painted in such glowing colors. 
He is himself Wilhelm Meister, who yearns for intellectual 
progress and refinement, and passes through illusion after 
illusion in this respect, whilst yet his years of study and 
travel never bring what he seeks. He is himself Faust, 
who turns away from the faith and craves the infinite, first 
in unlimited knowledge, and next in unlimited enjoyment 
of life, both alike unattainable by him. All these condi- 
tions and tendencies depict various epochs in his own 
life. 

Goethe's view of life exhibits a great lack of teleology — 
its want of religion, the want of an ultimate and supreme 
object after which the life may strive, and according to 
which it may be ethically planned. The same view ap- 
pears in his Autobiography ( Wahrheit und Dichtung), in 
which we only find an extremely interesting, lively, and 
suggestive development of talent. 

Pessimism. — Pessimism fixes its glance on the disturb- 
ing and destroying powers, and beholds these as the con- 
quering. Sceptic Pessimism must clear gradually into be- 
lief or sink into fatalism. A classical expression of the 
Sceptic Pessimism which may be dissipated by faith, is 
given from the standpoint of the Old Testament in the 
book of Ecclesiastes. But along with the sceptical voice is 
heard another full of comfort, making known to us that a 



THE HIGHEST GOOD. 



49 



great and essential change shall take place, that God him- 
self will bring every work into judgment, and herein is the 
germ of a higher Optimism which in Christianity is made 
clear. 

Fatalistic Pessimism. — Fatalistic Pessimism found ex- 
alted expression during the period of the Roman Empire. 
As Rome is the historical type of the kingdom of this world, 
it has likewise become typical of the self-decay and death 
in which the kingdom of this world must end. 

Pessimism in Literature. — Fatalistic and sceptical Pessi- 
mism has also repeated itself in the most recent times. As 
Goethe was the mouth-piece of Optimism, so Byron was 
that of Pessimism. In both the Christian idea is absent. 
They are both far behind Shakespeare. In Shakespeare 
we find an historic view of the world, along with genuine 
Optimism and Pessimism, although it may also be said that 
the pessimistic view is most abundantly developed. 

The Solution of the Problem. — Under the Cross of Christ, 
on the height of Golgotha, the real nature of the world dis- 
plays itself. Here the Optimism of the natural man fades, 
though it is just here that a higher Optimism originates. 

Christianity contains the truth of both Pessimism and 
Optimism. — Christianity alone makes it possible for man to 
attain, in the deepest sense, unity in his view of life and in 
his frame of mind, to combine without self-contradiction, 
Optimism and Pessimism. As Christianity, by awakening 
consciousness of sin and of guilt, awakens the true funda- 
mental pain of existence in regard to which all other sor- 
rows and calamities are subordinate, so it awakens also the 
5 



So 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



true exaltation over all misery, which hallows every pure 
and innocent joy. Through sorrow the way is opened to 
the acknowledgment of sin, and the Pessimism of Chris- 
tian Ethics paves the way for true Optimism. 



SECTION IV. 

THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND THE KINGDOM OF HUMANITY. 

The Kingdom of Humanity. — On its entrance into history, 
Christianity not merely discovers an independent kingdom 
of humanity, but awakens and calls it forth as certainly as 
it awakens the principle of personality. It plants the germ 
of God's kingdom, sows the seed of the operations of grace 
and the gifts of grace, institutes the Church, and the con- 
gregation. But at the same time it also plants the germ, 
sows the seed of an independent kingdom of humanity 
with the whole affluence of man's natural endowments and 
natural powers which develop themselves in his worldly re- 
lation in culture and civilization. 

We designate this moment, which has so great a signifi- 
cance in the divine plan of education, as Emancipation, 
i. e. deliverance from the natural bonds of the ancient times. 
But Emancipation is not Redemption. Redemption makes 
free to inward communion with God, freedom founded on 
grace. 

Those who are merely emancipated by Christianity are 
doubtless elevated to a higher grade of humanity, to human 



THE HIGHEST GOOD, 



5 1 



dignity and human privilege; but they are still in their 
sins, even though in their lite there may be a reflection of 
redemption, for as yet they have only the possibility of re- 
demption. The contrast here described was unknown to 
the human race before Christ's Advent. 

The Emancipation which the Gospel brings. — The Church, 
which had assumed sovereignty over the worldly side of 
life, through the Reformation, was brought back to its 
right destination, to the stewardship of the means of grace, 
to preach the word and dispense the sacraments. 

Humanity and freedom are the watchwords of the age ; 
and rightly understood, these demands are sanctioned by 
Christianity itself. In face of emancipation, with its im- 
mense development of man's natural powers, the Gospel 
continues to testify : "If, therefore, the Son shall make 
you free, ye shall be free indeed " (John 8 : 36). 

The Aim of History. — Divine mercy and human free- 
will, God's kingdom and the kingdom of the devil, these 
are the contrasts which make up the content of history. 

The all-embracing aim of history which should be ever 
present to our efforts, is the unity of the kingdom of hu- 
manity and the kingdom of God — a unity including the 
completion of the work of redemption and the work of 
emancipation. 

The Optimist asserts that the times are growing better ; 
the Pessimist affirms that they grow worse. Christianity is 
the truth of both. 

History must therefore be considered from the stand- 
point of the parable of the tares in the wheat, which both 



52 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



grow together until the harvest, and the close of history is 
the day of judgment. The end of all things on earth is 
not eternal peace, but the fiercest war between the two 
camps into which the human race will then be divided. 

And here a parallel is exhibited between the coming 
of God's kingdom in regard to the race and in regard to 
the individual man. If the kingdom of God is to make 
progress within us, it must be on the condition of a con- 
tinued separation of the Good and the Evil principle. 
Each one will understand the period of his own life as a 
season of grace which has been given to him, not merely 
for labor and progress, but also for cleansing and purifi- 
cation. 



SECTION V. 

THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND THE INDIVIDUAL. 

GotT s Kingdom in regard to Individuals. — Ghristianity 
desires that the kingdom of God be the ultimate aim of de- 
velopment, and the individual as the ministering means, 
tool, and instrument of the whole. 

An earthly copy of the ideal of God's kingdom may be 
approximately attained during this temporal development, 
and should be striven after in all human relations of society, 
and specially in those fundamental forms which have been 
appointed by God for earthly development, in the Church, 
the State, and the Family. 

Socialism defined. — Socialism desires to organize a great 
universal economy, a vast community, with organization 



THE HIGHEST GOOD. 



53 



of labor, with equality in property and enjoyment, equal- 
ity in information and refinement, which, if it could be ac- 
complished, would annihilate all individuality. 

The Individualism of Alexander Vinet criticised. — Indi- 
vidualism, according to Vinet, is the stamp which God has 
impressed on every human being, and which man should 
maintain and protect against the dangers which threaten 
him on the side of society. Society is an ocean on which 
the individual soul is cast forth in a little bark to seek the 
way through the rough billows to the shores of a new 
world, where it may land. Another, not myself, guides 
the waves, and appoints their way over the great abyss ; 
but the bark is my own, and the ocean is on account of the 
bark, not the bark on account of the ocean. 

This exaltation of individuality expresses certainly a sa- 
cred and precious truth, but not the whole truth. There 
is a truer illustration. The Church is the ship which sails 
across the stormy sea of society. We make the voyage in 
company with others, who are all united under the same 
master. And we are reminded (by Christ's stilling the 
tempest, and guiding the disciples unharmed to the shore) 
that if we hope to land at the safe harbor, we must be in 
the right ship, with the right companions, and have the 
Master on board. 

In no single individual (with the exception of the cen- 
tral individual, Christ) can human nature be perfectly real ■ 
ized. No single individual can be perfect man. Mere re- 
alism acknowledges only the universal as the truly existing. 
Nominalism, on the other hand, acknowledges only the in- 



« 



54 CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 

dividual as the truly existing, whilst the universal is but the 
abstract from the individual. 

Both are right, and both are wrong, for the truth is only 
the living unity of the universal and the individual. The 
Reformation itself went back to the unity of Nominalism 
and Realism, as this is given in the Holy Scriptures. 

The Christian view of religion, on the one hand is real- 
istic, or rather universalistic ; for the kingdom, the total- 
ity, is before the individual, and he is regarded as a link in 
the series, as a member of the vast body. It is, on the 
other hand, nominalistic or individualistic, for the individ- 
ual is not merely a ministering member, but at the same 
time an infinite object in itself, of infinite value to itself. 

The contemplation of history and of the circumstances 
which pass before our own eyes, lead us to the inevitable 
conviction, that in a nation all the individuals, though in 
different degrees, are responsible for the general tone which 
predominates in the community. All have a common re- 
sponsibility in relation to the duties of life, all the mem- 
bers are responsible for the body, and thence are also 
sharers in its weal and woe, honor and dishonor. 

It is Vinet's great merit that he maintains the inherent 
dignity of the individual ; but he overlooks the fact that 
the individual is a ministering member of an organic whole, 
and he deprives the individual of an important support 
which he should have in society. 

The Individualism of Kierkegaard criticised. — Kierke- 
gaard maintains that history is in reality not the history of 
man, but the history of ideas. He considers it as the mis- 



1 



THE HIGHEST GOOD. 55 

fortune of the age to know too much, and with all this 
knowledge to have forgotten what it is to exist, and the 
significance of the term subjectiveness. 

But Martensen answers : Never in any case will Chris- 
tianity appear in individuals, without at the same time ap- 
pearing in the form of a society. Christianity has not only 
an individual, but also a cosmical significance. Christ is 
not merely the model of believers, but the Saviour of the 
world, — the Head, under whom the whole system of ere 
ation must be combined. 

We must never forget, that it is from the kingdom of 
God that the initiative proceeds, and the connecting link 
between the kingdom of God and the individual is the 
Church and the Means of Grace. 



CHAPTER II. 

VIRTUE. 



SECTION I. 

THE IDEAL OF PERSONALITY. 

Christ the Ideal. — The special perfection of the individ- 
ual, his personal capacity to promote the advent of God's 
kingdom, the realization of the highest Good, is virtue. 
But Christian virtue is the virtue of the new man in Christ 
Jesus, of the man whom Christ has redeemed and regener- 
ated. On the basis of redemption, the factors of Chris- 
tian virtue are, freewill and grace. 

Christianity has its determinate ideal of personality in 
Christ, in the example which the Redeemer has left us. 
But the man of the present day, who does not receive 
Christ, has no determinate ideal of humanity and person- 
ality, although he is in constant search of one. Only one 
power in society can free the individual, namely the 
Gospel. 

Christ our Pattern. — If Christ were but the pattern, and 
not the Saviour, then His revelation would only be to our 
condemnation — only be against us, but not for us. Only 
when in the model we see the Saviour, can we receive en- 

(56) 



VIRTUE. 



57 



couragement, because the more we feel our infinite dis- 
tance, the more closely do we feel ourselves drawn into 
fellowship with him. Whilst we designate Christ the Sa- 
viour and Example, we can also designate him the Highest 
Good, in so far as the fulness of God's kingdom, the futur- 
ity of bliss, is included in Him. 



SECTION n. 

CHRIST THE UNPARALLELED IN HISTORY. 

Christ, true man and true God. — The individual who 
would save us, must be like us, must be a true man, subject 
to a human development of life and human conditions ; for 
otherwise he could not be our pattern, our Saviour. 

He must be unlike us, for otherwise he could not be that 
one whom we should all imitate, and of whose fulness we 
must all partake. If Christ is to be our Saviour and our 
example, He must even as a man be unlike us. And the 
perception of this great truth is the first step in the knowl- 
edge of Christ as the only-begotten of the Father, as the 
Son of the Most High. 

Christ's historic greatness indicates an inward holy 
greatness in his personality, through which he is infinitely 
distinguished, not merely from all who have exerted influ- 
ences on the history of the world, but also from all who 
have aspired after personal perfection. His aim, which he 
accomplished, was to redeem the world, and to found God's 
kingdom upon earth. 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



Christ was born in the Fulness of Time. — Christ dis- 
closed himself under circumstances which embrace the 
whole fulness of contradictions and contrasts requisite for 
the complete revelation of the world-subduing and world- 
redeeming ideal of love and free-will. He found in his 
nation the combined results of Jewish, Greek, and Roman 
culture. He encountered an over-ripe state of civilization, 
which included the whole range of contrasts in human life, 
in education, in external circumstances, wealth and pov- 
erty, despotism and slavery. 

Into this world of contrasts Christ entered, disclosed 
himself, and fulfilled the mission of his life. The greatness 
he displayed during his pilgrimage on earth was quiet 
greatness. 



SECTION III. 

CHRIST THE EXAMPLE OF SELF-GOVERNMENT. 

Christ the Example of Free-will. — Christ's relation to 
the law of morality is one wholly different from that of 
other men, for he was without sin. 

To deny this ethical miracle is to deny from the very 
foundation what is new in Christianity. Then we have no 
Redeemer, and no pattern ; then the ideal of liberty has 
not been revealed in reality. 

Christ the Perfect Personality. — In every human being 
there is not merely a want of harmony on account of sin, 
but also a one-sidedness on account of the limitation in his 
endowments, which prevents him from moving freely on 



VIRTUE. 



59 



all sides. . Only in Christ do we behold that perfectly har- 
monious character which affords inexhaustible fulness to 
our contemplation. 

In Christ we have the combination of the masculine and 
female characters. For the highest characteristics of wo- 
manly virtue are found also in him, — infinite devotion and 
singleness of purpose, the unruffled serenity of a calm and 
gentle spirit, pure and modest feeling in the maintenance 
of the finest moral distinctions ; and the power peculiar to 
women of passive obedience, power to bear, to suffer, to 
forego, in unspeakable loyalty. He is at once the Lion 
and the Lamb. 

But in Christ we behold also the marvelous unity of the 
contemplative and the practical, and in no condition of 
his life do we see the absence of harmony, and as his being 
is harmonious in itself, so is He also in harmony with 
everything outside of himself, — except with sin, and the 
confusion which through sin has entered into the world. 

Christ the Perfect Man. — He designates himself the Son 
of Man, that is to say, as man himself, as he who represents 
human nature not merely in its purity, but also in its per- 
fection and fulness. If the whole human race is a kingdom 
of eternal individualities, of immortal souls, then Christ is 
the central individuality in this organism. Paul calls him 
the second Adam, the new Man, as the first of a new spir- 
itualized race, under whom the mass or body of mankind 
shall collect as under the Head, because the numerous in- 
dividuals first through him came into right organic relation 
towards each other, and towards God. His whole revela- 



6o 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



tion bears the stamp of eternity, and is fitted to impress on 
all times and all races the universal-human and the closest 
brotherhood, and must find an echo in every human breast 
which is not closed by sin against him who cometh to his 
own. 

The words of Pilate : Ecce Homo ! receive here their 
just and true significance. 

Christ the Son of God. — But He who is to be the Media- 
tor between God and Man, must not be merely the Son 
of Man, but also the Son of God. The same who desig- 
nates himself the Son of Man, and speaks that which he 
knows (John 3 : 11-13), says also that He is one with the 
Father (John 10 : 30); and he regards his coming to this 
world, and the whole of his life on earth, as the continua- 
tion of his heavenly, superhuman life, in which he had 
glory with the Father before the foundation of the world 
(John 17: 5). 

But although in his individuality he manifests a glory as 
of the only-begotten of the Father, still his descent to 
earth, and his life on earth, were acts of self-humiliation. 
For he came to bear the sin of the world, to win back 
through obedience that which had been lost by the disobe- 
dience of the first man ; and he therefore submitted him- 
self to poverty, temptation, suffering, and death. It is 
this, his free self-humiliation, which the Apostle Paul de- 
scribes in Phil. 2 : 6-8. 



VIRTUE. 



61 



SECTION IV. 

CHRIST THE EXAMPLE OF LOVE AND OBEDIENCE. 

The Obedience of Christ. — The divine and human life 
of Christ in his state of humiliation develops itself as a life 
of love under the form of obedience, without which it could 
not be said that he has left us a pattern. 

In the development of his divine and human will, the 
divine and the human moment separate and become dis- 
tinct, so that the lower can be freely subjected to the 
higher, and perfect obedience is manifested. (Not my 
will, but Thine be done). The highest summit of obe- 
dience was shown in his agony, and on the cross, where, in 
order to complete the work of redemption, he entirely re- 
linquishes the use of his miraculous power, nay, where the 
suffering reaches the point of feeling God — forsaken, that 
the Scripture might be fulfilled. But this obedience would 
lose its highest significance as a pattern and a prototype, 
if it were not the obedience of Him who was also Lord 
of glory. 

Christ the Righteous Servant of the Old Testament. — The 
representation given by the Old Testament of the Lord's 
righteous Servant upon earth, first had reference to the peo- 
ple of Israel; then the conception of the Lord's servant is 
limited to the pious and believing in Israel, and amongst 
these in particular to the prophets. But neither can the 
prophets realize the ideal of God's servant. 

The righteous servant of God can only be referred to a 
single individual, the Messiah, who in the fulness of time 



62 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



should be manifested to carry forward God's cause to 
victory. 

The same persons who in the prophecies are described 
as servants of God, are described also as Sons of God. 
But in Christ this prophecy first finds is true fulfilment. 
For as Christ is the only begotten among the servants of 
God, the only one who uninterruptedly preserves obe- 
dience, so, too, is He the only-begotten Son, the Son of 
God. This fulfilment of prophecy we find in Phil. 2 : 
6-8: " Who, being in the form of God, counted it not a 
prize to be on an equality with God, but emptied himself, 
taking the form of a servant, being made in the likeness of 
men; and being found in fashion as a man, he humbled 
himself, becoming obedient even unto death. 1 1 

The Lord in the form of a Servant. — As all development 
of human personality assumes the psychological essential 
forms of Assimilation and Production, the unfolding of 
Christ's personality took also these forms. In his relation 
to the Father he appears as assimilating, receiving and ap- 
propriating to himself the divine fulness of life. For 
though from his birth he was one with the Father, yet he 
constantly stood in a relation of reciprocity with the Fa- 
ther. In his relation to the world he is active, creating 
anew, whilst he imparts to it that fulness which the Father 
has given him, bestowing on the world the bread of life. 

As the chief moments of the example of love given us by 
the Redeemer in his state of humiliation we therefore set 
forth this appropriating love in the inward communion with 
the Father, which has its expression in meditation and 



VIRTUE. 



63 



prayer; and that active and passive affection, which has 
its expression in the whole of His redeeming work on 
earth. 

As his love and obedience are the manifestation of free 
love to the Father and to men, he thus attains thereby his 
own personal perfection. The ideal of freedom is realized 
only through that of love. Through the completion of the 
Father's work he becomes himself perfected ; and through 
the continued development of the love, appropriating and 
devoting, active and passive, in which he becomes the 
bread of life, and the fountain of life for men, he builds to 
himself his body in the ethical sense of the term. Here 
we pause to consider the love of the Redeemer in his state 
of humiliation. 



SECTION V. 

THE LOVE OF CHRIST. 

Contemplative and Supplicative Love. — All the declara- 
tions of the Lord lead us to conceive his relation to the 
Father to be one of reception and appropriation. 

His early life was full of holy meditation and contem- 
plation, in which nature and human life changed before 

him into pictures and emblems of the kingdom of God 
♦ 

which he bears within him, and the Scriptures have opened 
to Him as types and prophecies, which are to find their 
fulfilment in Himself. Specially conspicuous do we find 
the contemplative life in the Gospels. Only those who 
have been alone with God have attained the power to in- 



64 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



fluence society as instruments and ambassadors of God, be- 
cause receptivity of God can only be developed in soli- 
tude. 

But this filial relation to the Father must be developed 
and glorified through the relation of service and obedience. 
This appears plainly in the history of the temptation in the 
wilderness. 

But our Lord's inner life shows us not only the progres- 
sive unity of faith and sight, but is at the same time a life 
of prayer. 

The filial relation in prayer must also be interpreted 
through the relation of service and obedience. For prayer 
is only appropriation of God, union with God, in so far as 
it is the yielding up of the individual will to the divine. All 
prayer is sacrifice ; but the idea of sacrifice is devotion of 
our possessions in the highest sense, — devotion of our own 
will, our self ; and if we could only in prayer accomplish 
this sacrifice in a higher degree, we should also receive more. 

Christ's Active Love. — From Christ's inner life of love 
to the Father, from contemplation and prayer, are devel- 
oped his active, his redeeming and regenerating love to 
men. 

The great, the colossal in Christ's labor of love, the en- 
thusiastic devotion, in which he does not spare himself, in 
order to be able to achieve the work of redemption, ex- 
ceeds all ordinary conceptions. Christ's works are always 
in harmony with the actual relation and the actual circum- 
stances, for at every moment he knows what is the time in 
the kingdom of God. In no period of his life does he do 



VIRTUE. 



65 



anything too early or too late ; he knows when his hour is 
come, and when it is not yet come. He perceives and 
employs the moment in its special significance for the 
■ kingdom of God and therefore forestalls nothing in impa- 
tience, and neglects nothing in procrastination. 

Christ Presents unto us the Solution of the Contradiction 
between the Contemplative and the Practical Life. — Some 
deep and earnest natures maintain that the perfect life is in 
contemplation alone, that it is best for a man to remain on 
the mount of contemplation, to absorb his soul in the eter- 
nal, to live in view of God and divine things. 

In opposition to this view of life, some of the oldest 
mystics as well as the latest, maintain that the happiest con- 
dition, that which has intrinsic worth, is to act, to work. 

Each expresses but half the truth. For he who endea- 
vors to live his life exclusively in contemplation, and re- 
gards action only as a necessary evil, will only bear towards 
God the relation of receiving, appropriating, enjoying. 
But receptivity, appropriation, is only the one side of rela- 
tion to God ; the other side is the working out of that 
which has been appropriated. 

That need of life which maintains that he who acts is 
thereby withdrawn from union with God, would only be 
true if the act, could not, as the Scriptures express it, be 
wrought in God (John 3 : 21). 

Active and Passive Love. — Christ went about doing 
good. But it was by his own death in unappreciated, in 
crucified love, that Christ would awaken men to contrition 



66 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



and repentance, to faith and love ; it is by his death that 
he would triumphantly establish the kingdom of God. 

No one has been so much beloved as Christ, and none 
has been so hated ; and not only the love, but also the ha- 
tred, is a mark by which he may be recognized as the 
Truth. Not only Christ's word, by which he testifies in- 
cessantly against the sin of the world, not merely his 
works, but even his person, calls forth this hatred. 

Christ's Passion Necessary. — Without suffering and 
death Christ could neither have been the Redeemer nor the 
perfect example, nor could he have been our High Priest. 
His will was in every moment in full harmony with the 
will of the Father. He learnt obedience in His tempta- 
tions. He was also proved in suffering, in order that his 
love and obedience might unfold themselves. 

In Christ Activity and Suffering are Combined. — Re- 
garded outwardly, the history of Christ's Passion is the in- 
terruption, the disturbance of his activity; regarded in- 
wardly, it is just the completion of his work. His whole 
life may be called a narrative of suffering, and his whole 
life may be called a narrative of activity. In Christ, there- 
fore, activity and suffering are combined. When he is de- 
livered into the hands of men, his outward activity is in- 
terrupted, but in his suffering is concealed inward activity. 
For from the external world he retires to the internal, the 
invisible kingdom, to secret communion with the Father, 
to the deepest concentration of His will in the will of the 
Father, preparing himself as the perfect sacrifice of love 
and obedience. 



VIRTUE. 



67 



Christ the Ideal of Perfect Righteousness. — In Christ's 
perfect freedom, in his perfect love and obedience, which 
manifests itself in the harmonious union of the moral fun- 
damental principles of life (appropriation, productive ac- 
tion, and suffering), we perceive at the same time the ideal 
of personal righteousness. 



SECTION VI. 

CHRIST THE TYPE OF GLORY. 

The Exaltation of Christ. — "Wherefore also God highly 
exalted him, and gave unto him the name which is above 
every name ; that in the name of Jesus every knee should 
bow, of things in heaven and things on earth and things 
under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that 
Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" 
(Phil, 2: 9-1 1). In these words the apostle points from 
the ideal of obedience and self-abasing love (Phil. 2 : 6-8) 
to that of triumph and dominion, — to the resurrection of 
Christ and his ascension to heaven, to his seat at the Fath- 
er's right hand, to the glorified Redeemer's manifestation 
at the last day, when it shall be made apparent in all un- 
mistakable manner that to him is given all power in hea- 
ven and on earth. 

Already in sacred vision, the Hope of Israel appeared 
under the image of the Prince of Peace, the king whose 
dominion shall have no end, and who must reign until he 
hath put all his enemies under his footstool (Ps. no: 1). 



68 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



This prophecy is fulfilled in Christ, in his humiliation and 
his exaltation. Even in his humiliation Christ is a King. 
"Thou sayest that I am a King," says he to Pilate (John 
18 : 37). From the beginning of his earthly sojourn, 
every moment of his life has been illuminated by his kingly 
power and dignity ; even in suffering he manifests his royal 
power in judging and ransoming the world. But he can 
only be fully revealed as King when he has completed his 
work as the Lord's righteous Servant on earth. By his as- 
cension to heaven, and his seat at the right hand of the 
Father, he has become the prototype not only of the king- 
dom of bliss, but of glory. 



SECTION VII. 

THE DISCIPLES OF THE KINGDOM. 

Discipleship. — In John 15 : 1-4, the Lord indicates 
what is peculiar in the relation of the disciples towards 
him. The human teacher must by his instruction be con- 
stantly rendering the disciple more and more independent 
of his authority, and the relation is not constant and per- 
manent. But Christ indicates the discipleship not merely 
as a permanent relation to him as the divine teacher, but 
as the Redeemer, from whose fulness they shall uninter- 
ruptedly receive. 

The Father as the husbandman purges the branches 
through divine providence with its manifold leadings, 
through which the disciples are trained and moulded. 



VIRTUE, 



69 



Christ seeks to impart to his disciples a system of truth 
which cannot be drawn from their own inner being, he 
will not merely impart to them a new understanding but 
also a new life. Discipleship to him becomes, in the deep- 
est sense, one of incessant reception and appropriation. 

Our Discipleship rests on Christ's Resurrection and Ex- 
altation. — That we can enter into discipleship towards 
Christ and have fellowship with him, though he no longer 
sojourns on earth, this rests on his resurrection and exalta- 
tion, or on the fact of His being the living Christ, who, as 
Lord and Head of His Church, through the means of grace 
and the Holy Spirit, carries on and perfects the commu- 
nion between himself and his people. 

True discipleship and true imitation only began when 
Christ's actual presence was taken from his disciples (John 
14: 7) : and with the outpouring of the Spirit on the day 
of Pentecost. Then the inner communion with Christ first 
became realized ; then his history was understood by them, 
and he began to win form within them. Then they began, 
under the influence of the Spirit, to tread independently 
the path which their Lord and Master had trodden, reflect- 
ing the example which he had left them. 

Beginning of Discipleship in the Individual. — The cen- 
tral sphere for the working of the exalted Redeemer is the 
Church, and admission to discipleship takes place by bap- 
tism. Baptism is initiation into the hidden and yet re- 
vealed life with Christ in God, initiation into all the mys- 
teries of Christianity. 

The grace bestowed in baptism comes first into exercise 



7o 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



through faith, and first by a personal life of faith begins the 
true discipleship. To all those who have not yet come to 
living personal belief, Christianity, Christian doctrine, and 
Christian worship can only be an uncomprehended, unex- 
plained Parable. 

Awakening. — Although we speak of faith as a conjoint 
movement of the intellectual powers, the affections, and 
the will, yet it is altogether a work of divine grace. In 
the case of a baptized person we designate that influence 
of divine grace, which is a necessary condition to his en- 
tering into a personal relation to the Redeemer, as awaken- 
ing. Even for him, who from childhood has kept faith in 
the doctrines of Christianity, there must be a period of time 
when he becomes awakened, so that he can perceive se- 
riously and personally in what his Christianity consists, 
what it bestows on him, and what it demands of him. And 
as the large majority of mankind wander their own way, 
they , can only be brought back to what they have forsaken 
by a work of grace. Awakening to the kingdom of God 
must always be effected by means of the preaching of the 
Gospel. 

But in combination with the Word, divine grace works 
also by the outward and inward guidings of providence. 
Among outward guidings we may specially name sufferings, 
adversity, everything which in the life of the individual 
awakens consciousness of the vanity of this world; for 
which reason they who felt weary and heavy laden were 
the first to seek Christ. 

With the outward leadings of Providence are combined 



VIRTUE. 



7i 



the inward leadings of the mind ; and there are many in- 
dividuals who are pre-eminently awakened from within. 
(But it is the Holy Spirit that is guiding them). 

The value of Christian Memoirs and Autobiographies 
lies in this, that they show us the various paths, which men 
have trod, in order to find and become disciples of Christ. 
Among Christian autobiographies, the Confessions of Au- 
gustine will always rank as the most remarkable. But in 
every narrative of conversion, it is not the pattern, but the 
Saviour, which is the first object of the sinner's search. 

Awakening must lead to Regeneration. — But awakening 
must, through conversion, through contrition as fruitful 
penitence, which is, not contrition for this or that individ- 
ual transgression, but a return from the whole preceding 
sinful existence, pass over into regeneration, which is the 
institution of a new personality. Where regeneration (used 
in its wider sense) has taken place, the will is regenerated 
and has become the principle of a progressive development 
of character. A mere awakening, which is still an unset- 
tled condition of the soul, is but the beginning of the work 
of divine grace, and to be effective must lead to conversion 
and regeneration. 

We may also express this by saying that regeneration 
(used in its wider sense) has entered wherever justifying 
faith, the appropriating reception of God's grace, has be- 
come the principle of a progressive development of char- 
acter. And from this point is developed the imitation of 
Christ, 



72 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



SECTION VIII. 

THE IMITATION OF CHRIST. 

The Imitation of Christ. — Following after presupposes a 
path which must be trodden in company with Christ, and 
thus there is a starting-point to be left, a goal which is to 
be reached, and even motion from the starting-point to the 
goal. The starting-point is faith in Christ; the goal is 
eternal bliss in the kingdom of God ; the motion is Chris- 
tian life, in which Christ's example goes before us. 

The imitation of Christ is a life after his example, and in 
his power, but is not a direct copying of him. What we 
are to imitate we may and ought to discover, not merely 
from his life and actions, but also from his word and com- 
mandments to us, because as Saviour and example he is at 
the same time teacher. 

But the sum of Christ's commands to us is contained in 
that love which in Christ has become a new commandment, 
partly because it was expounded by him, partly because he 
gives power to perform it.- " Let the same mind be in you 
which was in Christ Jesus " (Phil. 2: 5). 

The Direct Imitation of Christ. — The direct copying of 
Christ limits its imitation to the religious sphere, to a life 
in which religion must not merely be the animating senti- 
ment, but also the immediate aim of human action. At 
the beginning of Christianity, the imitation of Christ ne- 
cessarily appeared predominantly in the directly religious 
form, but the vocation of missionary cannot be common 
to all. 

A false spirit of imitation, in fanatic arrogance and van- 



VIRTUE. 



73 



ity, pressed forward to martyrdom, in order thus to attain 
to perfect likeness to the Lord. Another form of this 
false imitation manifests itself in the monastic life. 

But Christ does not desire only the denial of the world, 
and renunciation of it, but also the ennobling of the world, 
and its enlightenment. Real likeness to Christ is therefore 
not likeness in the external circumstances and employ- 
ments of life, but likeness to him in the disposition of the 
mind, likeness to Christ's will. 

And just here, the ascetic life, in its effort to resemble 
Christ, comes into great dissimularity to Him, and turns 
aside from his example. Asceticism allows society to lie 
entirely beyond it, undertakes no duty for its benefit, but 
is only occupied with its own blessedness, and with purely 
formal actions. 

No Imitation without the Acknowledgment of Christ as 
the Saviour. — While we say that what is essential in the 
imitation of Christ is resemblance in disposition, in will, 
and not material resemblance ; whilst we reject that exter- 
nal copying which is found in false martyrdom, and in 
monastic life ; and whilst we with the Reformers maintain, 
that the imitation of Christ may be accomplished in every 
condition of human life which is founded on the rules of 
society appointed by God, we must at the same time guard 
against another error, namely, that of supposing that we 
can resemble Christ in disposition of mind, can have him 
as our pattern, without uniting ourselves to him as the Sa- 
viour. "Apart from me ye can do nothing." (John 
*5: 5)- 



74 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



Defect of Mysticism. — However high we rank the mys- 
ticism of the Middle Ages, and however much it may by 
its deep earnestness have contributed in preparing for the 
Reformation, yet the pervading defect with the greatest 
mystics (Eckhart, Tauler, Suso, Ruysbrceck) was, that they 
sought by means of contemplation to attain likeness to 
Christ. They do not see in the cross and sufferings of 
Christ that great sacrifice for the forgiveness of sin, which 
we must first have appropriated to ourselves in faith before 
we can think of becoming like Christ. With some, like 
Franciscus of Assisi, the gift of tears is a substitute for the 
atonement wrought out by Christ. The mystics lack the 
great principle of the Reformation, justification by faith, 
the appropriation of Christ as our righteousness before God ; 
they do not in faith appropriate to themselves Christ as the 
propitiation, and therefore do not rightly appropriate him, 
and use the Means of Grace, which the Redeemer has in- 
stituted in his Church for the development of the life of 
faith. 



SECTION IX. 

LOVE TO CHRIST THE CARDINAL VIRTUE OF CHRISTIANITY. 

Love to God in Christ Jesus. — It becomes the task of 
every Christian, in his special position in life, to live as the 
servant of the Lord, and through this relation of obedience 
to develop the relation of God's child. Holy obedience 
and holy love are essential features in the physiognomy 
of Christian life ; and the further a Christian makes spirit- 



VIRTUE. 



75 



ual progress, the clearer will these features appear. This 
union of obedience and love, this ministering love, we may 
designate as the Christian cardinal virtue. It is essentially 
love to God, and as union with God, likeness to God. 
But as God can only be perceived and comprehended by 
us in Christ, and as we can only love God through Christ, 
can only attain likeness to God by attaining likeness to 
Christ, we may define it more closely as love to God in 
Christ Jesus. 

But why is not faith the Christian cardinal virtue ? Be- 
cause faith is not so much itself a virtue as the mother of all 
virtues, the root from which they spring. Faith and love 
are at the foundation one. Whether we determine faith as 
the conviction of that which is not seen, or as trust and 
confidence, it is essentially love to God, which humbly re- 
ceives and confidently apprehends the divine love, offered 
and imparted to man. Faith is only justifying faith be- 
cause it is reception and appropriation of God's mercy in 
Christ, appropriation of the Gospel, that in Christ we are 
loved of God, and that God in Christ forgives our sins, 
and receives us as his children. 

Love to Christ includes Love to Man and True Self Love. 
— Love to God in Christ, may also be described as love to 
Christ. For love to Christ is one with love to the Triune 
God, for Christ is its centre and resting-point. 

But as it is love to God, so it is also love to men ; for 
love to Christ is inseparable from love to Christ's work and 
Christ's kingdom, which embraces the whole human race. 
As love to Christ includes love to men, both to individuals 



76 CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 

and to the race, so it incudes also true self-love, right self- 
preservation, and care for the soul's salvation. 

What is said in Acts 20 : 28 to teachers, that they should 
take heed to themselves and to the entire flock, that they 
should consider their own relation to the master before that 
of any other person, applies to every Christian. No one 
can be able to work for the spread of God's kingdom in 
society who has not himself received God's kingdom ; and 
the measure of each individual's activity in religious and 
ethical significance, is the depth, sincerity, and power of 
his own personal relation to the Redeemer. 

Contemplative, Mystic, and Practical Love. — As Christ's 
love, in his inward relation to the Father, is receptive and 
appropriating, contemplative and adoring love, and in his 
relation to the world, active and passive love ; so, too, is 
the love of the disciple, in an imitative manner, and by 
means of Christ as Mediator. 

It determines itself as a contemplative love, rooted and 
grounded in faith, — a love, which has its type in Mary sit- 
ting at the feet of the Master, hearing his word, and pon- 
dering it in her heart. It is mystic love, a love of prayer, 
which in the most intimate personal fellowship unites itself 
to the Redeemer. The true conception of mysticism is the 
conception of inward communion with God, and the prin- 
cipal form of this inward communion is prayer. Christian 
love further determines itself as practical love, which again 
manifests itself as suffering and forbearing love, which 
through much tribulation enters into the kingdom of God, 
and by sacrifice learns obedience under the cross. 



VIRTUE. 



77 



Christian Love versus Egoism or Selfishness. — Christian 
Love forms the direct opposite to Egoism. To the pride 
of life, or arrogance, Christian love opposes humility. To 
the lust of the flesh, Christian love opposes chastity or pu- 
rity. To the lust of the eye Christian love opposes inward 
independence of earthly possessions and worldly honor. 
The Christian knows himself to be the steward of goods 
entrusted to him, for the use and employment of which he 
must render account. The specific remedy for curing pride 
and developing humility is self-examination and co7ifession 
of sin (to God and to man). The specific means to deaden 
the lusts of the flesh and to promote chastity, is fasting, a 
scheme of bodily and mental dietetics (i Cor. 9: 27). 
The specific means against covetousness, is the thought of 
death, Memento mori ! (Luke 12: 20). 

Fidelity the form in which Christian Virtue displays it- 
self. — If love may be described as the essence and content 
of virtue, fidelity may be termed its shape and form. 

Fidelity includes vigilance, courage, constancy (perse- 
verentid), patience, meekness, and long-suffering. In the 
same measure as love exhibits itself as fidelity and con- 
stancy, in the same measure is also realized Christian lib- 
erty, with peace and joy in God and our Saviour. 

The four cardinal virtues of heathen morality, wisdom, 
uprightness, sobriety and constancy, are contained and re- 
generated in Christian virtue. Wisdom is born anew in 
contemplative love; uprightness is renewed in practical 
love; sobriety and constancy are renewed in Christian 
fidelity. 



73 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



Sanctification. — The development of virtue in the imita- 
tion of Christ, from the first imperfect commencement to 
the various stages of perfection, we designate with the 
Scriptures as sanctification, which is at once a work of di- 
vine grace, which causes man to progress in holy growth, 
and a work of toil and strife effected by Christian liberty. 

In the same measure as sanctification progresses, all the 
natural faculties and gifts are brought into subjection to the 
new principle of personality implanted by Christ. 

Sanctification progresses through the moments of con- 
tinued appropriation of Christ ; productive activity in the 
Spirit of Christ; and separation, cleansing, and mastery 
of sin, and that which sin originates. This cleansing, 
which till the close of life continues to have such great sig- 
nificance, must be carried out through the entire domain 
of personal life ; and there is no circle of this which forms 
any exception. 

It must be carried out in contemplation and prayer, in 
activity and suffering, in appropriation and use of the world 
and the things of the world. The negative character of 
cleansing, and this positive developing, forming and edify- 
ing, has also its type in Christ's mode of action in regard 
to the disciples. On the one hand, he frees them from 
their prejudices and illusions, corrects and purifies them, 
which he symbolically indicates by the washing of their 
feet ; on the other hand, He forms them and quick- 
ens them, promising them a new and higher productivity 
(John 7 : 38). Like as Christ died for sin, so must we die 
to sin and to the world ; and like as Christ has risen from 
the dead, so should we walk in newness of life. 



VIRTUE. 



79 



Ascetic life, monastic life, and pietism afford examples 
of one-sidedness. During our education for the kingdom 
of God, the great Ruler of all things assists us specially in 
this purging away of the old leaven by sending us suffer- 
ings and trials. 

The Highest Motive. — What is the motive or ground of 
moral actions ? In Christian life, grateful love to the re- 
deeming God, is the deepest ground of virtue, to which all 
other motives may be referred. But the love produced by 
gratitude does not exclude, but includes adoring love, 
which loves God for his own sake. We love God, because 
he first loved us. (i John 4: 19). 

The Value of Justifying Faith. — Under all external and 
internal tribulations, we find the surest ground for comfort 
and serenity in the consciousness that we are beloved of 
God in Christ, that in Christ he has bestowed on us the 
forgiveness of sins and the adoption of children, and that 
nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ 
(Rom. 8 : 39). 

There is no deeper source of inward calm and serenity 
than justifying faith, with gratitude to God for his unde- 
served mercy. 

Quietism. — The great religious phenomenon which is 
known under the name of Quietism, may be described as 
that partial view T of life which sets it forth as the highest 
aim for personality to be freed from all motives, and only 
to be regulated by quietives. The best representatives of 
Quietism are Molinos (1642 — 97), Franciscus of Sales 
(1567 — 1622), and Madame De Guyon (1648 — 171 7). 



8o 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



But we maintain, that accepting, appropriating, and 
grateful love to God in Christ is at once quietive and also a 
motive. God' s mercy in Christ, is at once the deepest 
ground of tranquility and the deepest ground of action. 

Peace Brings Joy. — Ethical personality requires not 
mere resignation (against Spinoza), but comfort, a compen- 
sation of a higher nature, and in a higher order of things, 
for that which it lost in this lower. 

In the same measure as the disciples of Christ grow in 
the peace of God's kingdom, and in adoration of it, in the 
same measure do they grow also in just indifference to the 
goods and the ills of this world, nay, learn to sleep amid 
storms and dangers, after trlfe example of the Lord. In the 
same measure as they grow in peace they grow also in Chris- 
tian joy. Peace is the indispensably necessary foundation of 
joy, for which reason joy can never be found without peace, 
although the converse is not so certain. Yet it may be 
said that a peace in which there is no joy betokens an im- 
perfect condition in the Christian life, although this condi- 
tion is to be found with many earnest Christians, who only 
experience glimpses of joy, moments of gladness, whereas 
the apostle says : "Rejoice in the Lord always" (Phil. 
4: 4), thus demanding a constant frame of joyfulness. 

Peace, as the assurance of reconciliation with God, and 
the forgiveness of sins, is unquestionably the first, the only 
thing absolutely necessary ; and all mention of Christian 
joy is only vain and idle talk, confounding Christian with 
worldly joy, where this one thing is absent. 

A noble instance of Christian peace of soul is seen in 



VIRTUE. 



8x 



Luther, who so painfully toiled to obtain it. In Fenelon 
also we see an elevating instance of Christian peace of mind, 
united with a quiet gladness. We should have a region in 
our inner being, where earthly disquietude can find no en- 
trance ; that all that which daily presses on us should come 
no further than into the outer chambers of the soul, but be 
refused admittance to the inmost sanctuary, where undis- 
turbed serenity must reign. 

Fellowship with Christ the Deepest Quietive. — The deep- 
est quietive, the deepest peace and serenity, and at the same 
time the deepest joy, is to be found only in fellowship with 
Christ. 

All earthly quietives have no cure for the deepest ache 
of the human heart. Some seek a quietive in the fine arts. 
No other art has such an immediate power as music, not 
merely in moving and animating, but also in soothing the 
mind. This is already apparent in the playing of David 
on the harp before Saul. But art, in none of its forms, 
can give us real peace of mind, Only Christ can give us 
that peace which cannot be taken away from us (Matt. 
ii : 28). 



SECTION X. 

THE CHRISTIAN CHARACTER 

The Christian Character. — Through the progress of sanc- 
tification is formed the Christian character, the personality 
which more and more receives the impress of the Lord's 
servant after the example of Christ. The perfection of 
7 



82 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



Christian character rests partly on its purity and power, 
partly on its fulness and harmony with the example of 
Christ. 

The pure character is the unmixed character, of which 
love to God and God's kingdom is the one heart control- 
ling and will-determining power; for which reason the 
progressive purification of the heart is an essential condi- 
tion, if we would approach purity of character. But to 
Christian purity of character belongs also purity of motives 
and principles. 

There is a mutual relation between purity of character 
and its energy. Only the pure will can be really energe- 
tic; for true energy shows itself in carrying out the de- 
mands of God's kingdom, not merely striving, but also 
suffering. But the perfection of Christian character does 
not rest merely on its purity and energy, but also on its 
internal copiousness and harmony, as these in an absolute 
sense appear in Christ's example. 

No human character is without dissonances, because not 
one is without sin. No Christian character is without dis- 
sonances, nay, these only become very apparent in Chris- 
tian character, although redemption aids their overthrow, 
and advancing maturity brings with it harmony. 

The Variety of Christian Character. — The great variety 
of Christian character rests on the manifold nature of hu- 
man individuality. Age, creed, and nationality are deter- 
mining factors. But the natural temperament of the indi- 
vidual, the psychological organization, is specially influen- 
tial in determining the peculiarity of the character. 



CHAPTER III. 



THE LAW. 

I 



vSECTION L 

DUTY AND LAW. 

The Relation of Duty to Law. — We must not confound 
the notions of duty and law. Duty points back to the law 
as the norm of the good, the eternal rule and criterion for 
the will, for our acting as well as for our being. When 
the moral law requires its realization in a particular case it 
becomes moral duty. I fulfil the law in that I do my duty. 
The duties that spring from the same law are different for 
different men and for different circumstances. We may 
say that duty is the product of two factors, the moral law 
and the peculiarity of the person, — that duty is the relation 
of the law to the individual person. 

The whole doctrine of virtue may be treated as the doc- 
trine of duty. The relation, however, of law and and duty 
to the human consciousness and will is an entirely different 
matter within Christianity from that outside of Christianity. 

The Law of Morality and the Law of Nature. — There is 
an essential difference between the law of nature and the 
law of morality. This last is not simply the highest law 

(83) 



84 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



of nature in so far as it enters into action on the highest 
grade of life known to us, — namely, self-conscious life. 
Although the naturalistic thinker may explain everything 
else by the law of nature, one thing he cannot explain, — 
himself, the thinking and willing mind, the free responsi- 
ble personality. The ethical " ought " must remain to all 
eternity inexplicable by nature. It comes not from be- 
neath, but from above. The law of morality expresses its 
"must " as an "ought " because it is the law of free-will. 
It comes with authority ; it is a power which demands ac- 
knowledgment, demands obedience and voluntary submis- 
sion, while it compels respect and esteem, and brings with 
it obligation and responsibility. It is universal and mani- 
fests itself with unerring necessity ; it is as independent of 
men as the law which determines the growth of plants, and 
its requirement is no less perceptible to our conscience than 
the law of gravity to our bodies. 

Authority.- — By virtue of the law of morality, humanity 
is the world of liberty and of authority, whilst nature is only 
that of necessity and power. 

Authority and liberty, or free-will, around these two 
poles revolves the whole moral world ; and if we have for- 
merly designated grace and free-will as these poles, we 
have only named two sides of the same thing. The power 
which binds human liberty with an absolute authority, can- 
not be in any way conditional and finite, but only the ab- 
solute power, or God. 

If duty and responsibility are to be treated with serious- 
ness, then authority must be above liberty, then must the 



THE LAW. 



«5 



authority which engages me in my conscience be the will 
of God, that will which is at once holy and omnipotent, 
the same which is Lord over the laws of nature, which 
guides the history of the world, and decides the destinies 
of kingdoms and races. This unity of the ethical and the 
physical, which in God is the unity of holiness and omni- 
potence is essential to the conception of authority. There- 
fore our inmost consciousness of duty is accompanied by 
the assurance that the legislating authority which speaks in 
our inner being is not merely the judging, but also the ex- 
ecutive authority, which can give effect to its laws and sen- 
tences, because it is the law of the Almighty Sovereign of 
the universe. 

All Authority is of God. — The divine authority, which 
manifests itself in the law, is postulate and background for 
all earthly human authority. This latter rests on a unity 
of the ethical and the physical, or, as we may also express 
it, of right and might. 

But power alone cannot establish authority. If might 
alone establishes authority, one might say with the same 
reason, that a wild beast rushing forth and terrifying a herd 
of cattle or a crowd of men, exercises authority over them. 
There can be no real authority by the State or anywhere 
else unless men can be bound through moral obligation by 
means of their conscience. Despotic use of power in the 
family or the school is not authority, for which reason 
Scripture admonishes parents not to provoke their children 
to wrath (Eph. 6 : 4). Authority must be able to com- 
mand itself to the moral sense of the children and pupils if 
it is to call forth obedience, filial piety, and love. 



86 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS, 



Whilst by right we understand the ethical, by might we 
not merely understand material power, but also higher 
agencies, as genius and talent, which are appointed to be 
instruments for the ethical. 

Although we place the idea of authority in intimate con- 
nection with the conceptions of duty and conscience, it 
ought not to be overlooked that authority as well as the 
law has its ultimate principle in love. Therefore authority 
is not only closely bound up with obedience, but moreover 
authority is associated with filial piety, with admiration, 
with faith. Experience, however, shows that these mo- 
ments are not always associated. But the more complete 
the authority, the more are admiration and confidence pre- 
sent. Therefore Christ is the perfect personal authority, — 
for whilst he binds us absolutely in our consciences, he 
stands at the same time before us as the object of faith, 
of unlimited gratitude and admiration. 

When we maintain that all authority is of God (Rom. 
13 : 1), it implies that in its original source, in its inmost 
foundation and in its actual essence, authority is not of 
men, cannot be deduced from the right of the stronger or 
the more able, nor from common consent, but rests on 
God 's will and appointment, and is subject to his guidance. 
This implies, that in honoring our parents and obeying the 
law, one obeys not only men, but also God. 

The opposite theory, which in our time has found so 
many advocates, is this: All authority is from men, or 
liberty is its own authority. 



THE LAW. 



87 



SECTION II. 

CONSCIENCE. 

The Nature or Essence of Conscience. — Conscience is 
the inner revelation of the holy will of God in the rational 
consciousness of man It is not mere impulse, the aim 
of which is God and God's kingdom ; it is not mere instinct, 
related to the instinct of animals, which makes known to 
man what in an ethical respect is serviceable to him, and 
what he must avoid for the preservation of his soul ; but it 
is a real direct consciousness of God, man's joint acquaint- 
ance with himself and with God. As sin separates man 
from God and from the knowledge of him, it is clear that 
the conscience had its full purity and power only in a sin- 
less state. Since the fall, it is the divine image of God 
still remaining in man. It is the germ proper of man's 
God-likeness. It is a consciousness dwelling in man, in 
which man is, as it were, present to himself in his ethi- 
cal conduct, and an object of his own approbation or 
disapprobation. When we say that in conscience we hear 
the voice of God, that it is an inner revelation, we do not 
speak of special revelations and inspiration. We are not 
to understand a real inspiration as in the case of the pro- 
phets, for this would in fact be supernatural and extraor- 
dinary. 

It is that consciousness of man by virtue of which a feel- 
ing of approval of truth and sincerity is attributed to him 
(2 Cor. 4: 2 ; 5 : 11). And just for this very reason, 
conscience is the right consciousness of the ethically right 



88 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



or wrong condition of man (2 Cor. 1 : 12; Rom. 9: 1). 
Man in his conduct knows himself as being placed not only 
in a certain relation to himself and his fellow-men, but also 
to God, and conscience indicates precisely the moral reli- 
gious consciousness, the knowledge of one's self in relation 
to God (Acts 24: 16). The true consciousness of a false 
relation of man's inner state to God is called an "evil 
conscience" (Heb. 10: 22). 

Conscience is therefore a power, a judging faculty (1 
Cor. 10: 29), in opposition to a judging after the flesh 
(John 8: 15). Conscience herein resembles the law of 
God (Rom. 2 : 14, 15). But in this very similarity it is 
something different from the intellect and heart, otherwise 
a pure heart and a good conscience could not be mentioned 
together (1 Tim 1 : 5), and there were no speaking of the 
defilement of the mind as well as of the conscience (Tit. 
1: IS)- 

A closer examination of the Essence of Conscience}— 
That which is presented to me under all circumstances, by 
means of the working of my conscience, is a power mani- 
festing itself in my spirit, and which, proceeding from the 
spirit, takes possession of the whole man, whose manifesta- 
tions I cannot summon forth by an exertion of my con- 
scious will, but which involuntarily seizes me. In me 
thoughts arise, whose subject-matter I discover to be not 
only certain relations of myself to my own nature and to 
the world, but to something which is above me and the 
world. There is something above man and above created 

1 Compare Harless, \ 8, pp. 49-63. 



THE LAW. 



89 



nature, of which man becomes conscious in the working 
of conscience, whether he himself recognizes it as such, 
and calls it so or not. I stand before myself as before a 
riddle, whose key is not to be found in the human self-con- 
sciousness, but is gi ven to it by God in the word of revela- 
tion. From the Word we gather a derivative relation of 
the human spirit, by virtue of which it is descended from 
God, and was placed in its creature-existence by God. 
This derivative relation is a permanent one, because it is 
divinely appointed, and can, it is true, to a considerable 
degree be darkened, but not absolutely abolished. And 
this derivative relation precedes the development of the 
intellectual self-consciousness. Man's spirit does not place 
itself in relation to God, but God stands in relation to 
man's spirit. And since the original root of the spirit's 
existence and life is God, even in the spirit itself is rooted 
that which forms a powerful impulse in the conscience, and 
brings to man's consciousness that he not only belongs to 
a human, but also to a divine race, and bears something in 
the essence of his spirit in himself, which has its origin not 
from man or his race, but from God. The last and deep- 
est root of the spirit is the root of conscience ; if the spirit 
were not and did not continue to be a spirit derived from 
God, it could neither comprehend, feel, nor conceive of 
God. Conscience is thus an evidence that our life is rooted 
in God, but at the same time it proves that it is a life out- 
side of God, which is not the normal position. 

The Form of the Manifestation of Conscience} — The way 
1 Compare Heirless, \ 9, pp. 63-69. 



9 o 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



in which conscience may manifest itself depends on other 
grounds than those which are given in the essence of it. It 
is the same in the child as in the old man, the same to him 
who yields to it as in him who resists it; but it manifests 
and reveals itself differently, according to the degree of na- 
tural development or the ethical position attained by the 
individual. 

If sin had not come into the world, then would the rela- 
tion of the law to conscience, be entirely different from 
what it is now. Then would conscience be the tranquil 
consciousness that our life was a progressive life in God. 
But now I know, by virtue of my conscience, that my life 
is not merged in a life in God. Conscience holds before 
me the demand of God in a "thou shalt." It manifests 
itself in my experience predominantly in the form of accu- 
sation and self-judgment, and in this aspect the ante- Chris- 
tian world also found the chief import of conscience. The 
functions of conscience pre-eminently are to remind, judge, 
inwardly reward or punish, and to threaten of future retri- 
bution. Conscience bears testimony to our dependence on 
God and his holy law, and it testifies concerning the king- 
dom of holiness and righteousness. And because the con- 
science has also a consciousness of eternity, its threaten - 
ings do not point merely to the rJresent life, but also to the 
coming life ; but whilst it expresses conviction of future 
retribution, it declares at the same time, with greater or 
less clearness, that the kingdom of holiness is also one 
of joy and bliss. 



THE LAW. 



91 



The Testimony of Conscience Respecting the Inclination 
to Evil} — The characteristic feature of the thoughts of con- 
science is this, that they are thoughts which arise without 
the intervention of any process of thinking, not thoughts 
derived from other thoughts, but thoughts which are the 
most immediate impress of a personal spiritual sensation, 
and bear the stamp, not of a derived certainty, but of an 
immediate self-conviction. For this reason Scripture calls 
that which is excited in us by means of conscience, and 
which we do by means of conscience, a something written 
on the heart (Rom. 2 : 15). 

The object to which the working of conscience is di- 
rected, and to which the right investigation of conscience 
applies, is the personal state of man's heart. 

Conscience is never a consciousness of a goodness of the 
heart, for in conscience we know at best only of a change- 
able state of our heart. The apostle Paul names as the re- 
sult of conscience in the self-consciousness of man only 
thoughts, which accuse or else excuse one another, and as 
the result of the same before God, never speaks of our be- 
ing void of blame, but of our being inexcusable before God 
(Compare Rom. 2 : 15 with 1 : 20). 

The principal point remains this, that man in his con- 
science is aware of a contradiction in which he, according 
to his personal tendency, stands in disunion with himself and 
the conscience of his spirit. As neither Scripture nor ex- 
perience testifies that man can do away with this disunion, 
we must regard this contradiction habitual, because though 
Compare Heirless, \ 10, pp. 70-78. 



9 2 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



at times it may be made to cease, yet ever again it reap- 
pears, and is never eradicated. The declaration of con- 
science is a testimony to the deepest personal disunion, 
which in its inmost significance man himself, without the 
aid of revelation, is unable to understand, and which in 
this its deepest import will first be made clear at a future 
day (Rom. 2 : 16). 

Conscience testifies to this evil inclination of the heart, 
to the selfish propensity innate in man, which Scripture 
speaks of as worldly lusts (Tit. 2 : 12), as fleshly lusts (1 
Pet. 2 : n). Conscience disturbs the fallacious peace of 
the natural man, without being able to restore the true 
peace. All corruption of the tendency of our life rests 
upon a corruption in the tendency of our heart. This is 
the declaration of the heart's testimony in conscience 
against the lusts and thoughts of the heart. 

The Testimony of Conscience to the Power lessness of the 
Will. 1 — Conscience also denies to man the power of over- 
coming the selfish dictates of the heart. The reason is 
very simple. That which is to subdue me, must be more 
powerful than I. This, however, I cannot find in myself, 
nor in that which is mine own ; I can only find it out of 
myself, and above myself, in Him to whom I belong. And 
towards this the voice of my conscience draws me. 

Conscience may be Enlightened and Cultivated. — As the 
conscience differs from the enlightening influence of the 
Holy Spirit (Rom. 9 : 1), and is a power inherent in the 
essense of man (Rom. 2 : 14, 15), and is a judging -power, 

1 Compare Harless, \ 11, pp. 79-88. 



THE LAW. 



93 



we can speak of an awakening, enlightenment, develop- 
ment, and training of the conscience. On account of our 
sinful condition it stands in need of culture, and with its 
development it constantly becomes more definite, more 
clear and more rich in its contents. 

Conscience is not from the beginning a perfect organ, 
but, considered from its subjective side, requires to be de- 
veloped, formed, and educated, and can only be developed 
in union with man's whole moral being, and thus in com- 
bination with the other faculties of the soul. The devel- 
opment of conscience is specially conditional on the de- 
velopment of knowledge, and of the will, for which reason 
we are accustomed to speak of the conscience in connec- 
tion with the reason. » 

Conscience, not on its divine but on its human side, may 
err, and it often requires to be corrected and enlightened, 
and is always to be cultivated. The conscience may be 
blunt, and require to be sharpened, or it may have to be 
roused. The process of darkening begins with the keeping 
down of a truth which dwells in man, and which presents 
itself to his consciousness, a keeping down by unrighteous- 
ness, or by an act of injustice which one does to the truth 
(Rom. i : 1 8). 

The conscience may be right or wrong, weak or strong 
(i Cor. 8 : 7, 12) ; it may err and waver in that which is 
right before God ; but in all cases it remains the norm, or 
law, for the actions of the individual. If a man know his 
doing to be in harmony with the divine law, his conscience 
is good (Acts 23 : 1 ; 1 Pet. 3 : 16, 21 ; 1 Tim. 1 : 5, 19; 



94 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



Heb. 13: 18), pure (1 Tim. 3: 9; 2 Tim. 1: 3), void 
of offence toward God and man (Acts 24 : 16). If his do- 
ing be evil, so also is his conscience, inasmuch as it is con- 
sciousness of such evil (Heb. 10: 22); it is denied (Tit. 
1 : 15 ; 1 Cor. 8 : 7), so far as the evil deeds shadow them- 
selves in it like blots ; branded or seared (1 Tim. 4 : 2), so 
far as it bears these evil deeds ineradicably and indelibly 
stamped like brands. 1 

TJie Social Conscience. — Conscience does not express it- 
self merely in the individual, but also in society. The so- 
cial conscience, however, must not be confounded with 
public opinion, which may often be without conscience, and 
in many cases may show that a people's conscience sleeps. 
But where the social conscience is vigorous and lively, it 
will also bear testimony to itself through public opinion. 
The development of the social conscience, its purity and 
vigor, depend on the general moral and religious knowl- 
edge of society, and on the susceptibility of the general 
will to ethical motives. 

SECTION III. 

THE CONTENT OF THE LAW. 

Distinction between the Natural and Supernatural Reve- 
lation of the Will of God. — The manifestation of the holy 
will of God is of a two-fold character. As man was cre- 
ated by God after his own image, he was created unto 
reason and unto morality. By virtue of his rationality, 

1 Compare Delitzsch's System of Biblical Psychology, pp. 165, 166. 



THE LAW. 



95 



man has the divine law in himself, and this law manifests 
itself through the conscience. Through his conscience 
man becomes aware that God bears a relation to him, and 
that he bears a relation to God. He realizes that God re- 
quires something of him, and also that he cannot perform 
this requirement. Such a state of things cannot be what 
God wills. God has therefore made known to us by posi- 
tive law what his will is, and this we call the Revealed law 
of God. 

The Content of the Law. — We may therefore say that 
the content of the law, which embraces the individual and 
society, is founded in the essence of human personality, 
appointed by the will of God, or in man as created in the 
image of God. It is too limited an apprehension of the 
law's content, to suppose it a mere collection of commands 
and prescriptions. 

If man is created in God's image, then free communion, 
free union with God, is man's principal destiny ; and the 
law's chief, all-embracing demand we cannot better express 
than in Christ's words : "Thoushalt love the Lord thy 
God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all 
thy mind" (Math. 22: 37). That is: Thoushalt iove 
God with a receiving, appropriating, working and suffering 
love. Thou shalt love him in contemplative love (in medi- 
tation), in mystic love (in prayer), and in practical love 
(in acting and suffering). In each of these forms, thy love 
must be one of obedience. 

Love to God is thus the one all-embracing duty. All 
must be done to the glory of God (1 Cor. 10 : 31). 



9 6 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



The love of obedience must during life in this world, 
prove itself to be that which fulfils all righteousness, and do 
that which is right. Love (both human and divine) so lit- 
tle excludes righteousness, that, on the contrary, it cannot 
exist without it. By means of wisdom the love of God is 
in unity with His justice ; for all manifestation of justice 
has teleologic significance for the highest good, or for the 
manifestation of God's love to his creatures. As love can- 
not exist without wisdom and justice, so both of these last 
are attributable to love, and are incomprehensible with- 
out it. 

Moral Obligations. — The content of the law is at once 
universal and individual. The moral obligations of every 
individual and of every society are partly determined by 
their special characteristics partly by the particular claim 
which the divine will, through the leadings of providence, 
makes upon each of us in the sphere of life to which we 
have been appointed. In every sphere of life God claims, 
on the ground of the general content of the law, something 
special from us. It is this individual moment which the 
apostle has before his eyes when he counsels the Christians 
to prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will 
of God (Rom. 12 : 2). 

The meaning is not merely that we should know, what 
we already know; the general decree of love, or the ten 
commandments, but that we should discover what God re- 
quires of us according to our innate characteristics, our 
special gifts, the talents committed to us, and in what 
manner we should accommodate ourselves to this or that 



THE LAW. 



97 



sign of the times, to this or that new movement. The 
eternal requirements of love, wisdom, and justice remain 
the same ; it is the individual circumstances which change. 

Determination of the Content of the Law — That the 
content of the law is determined by the will of God, does 
not mean that it is arbitrarily so determined, as if it might 
also have been different if it had thus pleased God. But 
just as little is the content of the law determined indepen- 
dently of God's will, or to be regarded as a mere content 
of reason, independent of personal relation to God. 



SECTION IV. 

THE POSITIVE LAW. 

The Revealed Law. — The necessity of a revealed law is 
admitted with sin. God has given us a positive revealed 
law, in which the requirements of his will are represented 
to us as in an infallible mirror, which does not flatter, and 
which shows us our own form in its relation to the law. 
But the design of the law was educative, it aimed indirectly 
to train the will of man to true freedom. Through the law 
man was to learn that he was unable to perform its de- 
mands, to perceive his sinfulness, and therefore become sus- 
ceptible of grace in Christ. The law was given to us that 
we might recognize that evil is not altogether comprised in 
the wrong done to a better knowledge dwelling in us, but 
that it is also an offense against the person of the holy judg- 
ing God, standing over against the Ego. To do evil in 
8 



9 8 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



the presence of a revealed God is to "sin against God" 
(Gen. 39 : 9). With the law begins the consciousness of 
being debtors, and being under the judgment of God 
(Rom. 3: 19), because the mind of the flesh is enmity 
against God (Rom. 8 : 7), and against this enmity the law 
worketh wrath (Rom. 4: 15). With the law the true na- 
ture of evil becomes first manifest, for "where there is no 
law, neither is there transgression (Rom. 4: 15). In and 
with the lav/, sin is formally and solemnly imputed as being 
what it really is (Rom. 5 : 13), and through the law alone 
we derive a perception of the true nature of sin. For apart 
from the law sin is dead (Rom. 7 : 7, 8). 

Although the law is holy, just, and good, it cannot make 
us holy, just, and good men. If nothing stands before our 
souls but command and prohibition then, at all times, we 
become aware that our evil desires are more powerful than 
the prohibition, and we are in truth, first thoroughly 
stirred up by the prohibition, which only greatly inflames 
our evil desir # es. 

The Mosaic Law as Contrasted with the Gospel} — The 
commandment of the Old Testament is, according to 
Christ's word, the commandment of God (Matt. 15: 4; 
22: 31), and just for this reason it cannot be broken 
(Matt. 5 : 17). The will of God in the form of the law, 
that is to say, of commands and prohibitions affecting men, 
forms at the same time the contrast to that which was 
brought to pass through Christ. "The law was given by 
Moses ; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ 1 ' (John 1 : 

1 Compare liar less, % 13-15, pp. 95-1 32. 



THE LAW. 



99 



17). "For of his fulness we all received, and grace for 
grace'' (John 1: 16). The fulness of divine truth was 
not yet suited to the Mosaic revelation. By Moses God 
gave the law, the sum of requirements which the true God 
makes upon men. From this requirement man receives 
nothing but his indebtedness of performance. But from 
the fulness of Christ he was to receive. For by him came 
into the world the grace of God, the whole undivided 
truth of God, the necessity for which the law awakens and 
confirms. 

In the law as such we have no revelation of the divine 
will to bestow on us the power to fulfil its requisitions. 
The law belongs to the preparatory teaching of God, and 
does not give man life and righteousness. The man who 
places himself under the law alone must continue in a 
threefold manner the slave of fear. (1) He places himself 
under the law, with fear of the law ; for he finds in him- 
self nothing of a love to God with all his heart and with 
all his mind. Only where love abounds is there the rever- 
ential fear of God which is full of confidence (2 Cor. 7 : 
1; 1 Peter 1 : 17; Phil. 2: 12, 13). (2) He does what 
the law requires either from a dread of its threatenings or 
from a fear of losing the reward of such doing ; and this is 
the fear of a servile mind. (3) He remains a slave to the 
fear of the threatened judgment of death and the wrath 
of God (Gal. 3 : 10), and knows that when called to a 
reckoning he has nothing to say in his defence, and ob- 
tains no peace at the thought of God's judgment. Luther 
very forcibly expresses this thought s The law makes visi- 



IOO 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



ble and manifest, not the grace of God, not that righteous- 
ness by which we may obtain everlasting life and blessed- 
ness, but sin, our frailty, death, God's wrath and judgment 
— this is the true and proper work of the law, with which it 
is to rest satisfied, and go no further. . . . Whatever brings 
before us sin, or wrath, or death, that exercises and per- 
forms the office of the law. whether it is done in the Old or 
New Testament." 

The Nature and Essence of the Gospel} — The sum of all 
the yearning excited in us by conscience and the law is 
comprised in the knowledge that no man can effect his 
own redemption. To the question, " Who then can be 
saved?" the answer of Christ holds good universally and 
unconditionally: " With men this is impossible; but 
with God all things are possible" (Matt. 19: 25, 26). 
How God has accomplished this work of redemption is re- 
vealed to us by the announcement of a mystery hitherto 
hidden and withheld from, the world (Rom. 16 : 25 ; Eph. 
1:9; Col. 1 : 26 ; 2 Cor. 2 : 7-10). It is not the sphere 
of Ethics to expound this economy of God in the history 
of salvation. But the testimony to this divine deliverance 
of man's, race from the wrath of God has this for its char- 
acteristic sign, that it declares to us an act of God in 
Christ as that in which once for all this deliverance is ac- 
complished (2 Cor. 5 : 18, 19). The facts of the death 
and resurrection of Christ were those by whose testimony 
the apostles conquered the world (Acts 1 .:. 22; 2: 24, 
32 ; 3 : 15 ; etc). No reconciliation and redemption of 

1 Compare Marl'ess f $ 1 7, pp. 133-149V 



THE LAW. 



101 



the world accomplished by Christ could at all be spoken 
of, if it were not effected by the death of Christ, and by 
that alone (Rom. 5:10). By virtue of his death (1 Tim. 
2: 6; 2 Cor. 5 : 14) Christ is truly the Redeemer of the 
world (John 4 : 42) the propitiation for the whole world 
(1 John 2 : 2), the deliverer from the wrath of God 
(1 Thess. 1 : 10 ; Rom. 5 : 9). And that which is offered to 
us by God as our justification, is nothing else but justifica- 
tion in the blood of Christ (Rom. 5 : 9), and absolutely 
identical with forgiveness of sins (2 Cor. 5 : 19; Eph. 1 : 
7; Col. 1: 14). 

It is therefore the revelation of the Gospel which makes 
known to us that our salvation has been wrought by Christ 
the God-man, — that man depends for his justification and 
righteousness before God in no conceivable manner on his 
own work or doing, but absolutely on the work and doing 
of Christ. The law is that which lays down what man is 
to do ; the gospel reveals whence man is to obtain salva- 
tion and righteousness. The law discovers our disease, 
and the gospel supplies the remedy for healing it. 

The specific form of the gospel is promise, which de- 
pending simply upon the will of his grace, God gives in 
the Word and causes to be preached. This last period of 
the world in which we live is the reign of grace (Rom. 5 : 
21), and where grace reigns in the Word, there also it can 
only reign in the Word of promise. Hence in the Scrip- 
tures grace and promise form an indissoluble unity (Rom. 
4: 16). For to this end is Christ the Mediator of the 
New Covenant, that we may receive the promise of the eter- 
nal inheritance (Heb. 9 : 15). 



102 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



The word of the gospel has not only this characteristic 
that it is promise, but through Christ , whose word it is, it 
has the power of working salvation. In this sense the 
words of Christ are spirit and life (John 6 : 63). For this 
reason, by virtue of the connection of the word with the 
effectual working of the Lord who is that Word, the word 
of promise is called a living and active word (Heb. 4: 12), 
— it is the imperishable seed of which we Christians are 
born (1 Pet. 1 : 23; James 1 : 18). For the gospel, the 
word of the cross of Christ, is in itself a power unto salva- 
tion (Rom. 1: 16; 1 Cor. 1: 18; James 1: 18). 

Christ the Fulfiller of the Law. — The Reconciler is our 
reconciliation, our propitiation (1 John 2 : 2) ; he is so by 
his Person, in which Godhead and manhood are reunited ; 
he is so by his work, the loving, acting, and suffering, by 
which, giving himself in holy self-denial as a sacrifice 
(Heb. 9 : 14), he perfectly fulfilled the law (Gal. 4: 4, 5), 
becoming obedient even unto the death of the cross (Phil. 
2:8). By this his obedience the many shall be made 
righteous (Rom. 5 : 19), even all those who receive the 
abundance of grace and the gift of righteousness (Rom. 5 : 
17). The suffering of death completed the sacrifice of that 
most holy obedience, which gave a priestly consecration to 
the whole suffering life of the Son of God in his state of hu- 
miliation, and which, both by his passive obedience as the 
endurance of ill, of the wages of sin, and by his active obe- 
dience as the performance of Good according to the will 
of God, by the well-doing of holy love (John 4: 34), 
proved itself to be the complete fulfilling of the law. For 



THE LAW. 



103 



Christ, with that which he is and brings, did not come to 
destroy the law, but to fulfil it (Matt. 5 : 17), and it was 
by his satisfactory fulfillment, not by the annulling of its 
holy commandments, that Christ redeemed men from the 
curse. The demands of God's righteousness could not be 
imparted to the believer as Christ's righteousness until the 
law had been fulfilled and satisfaction had been made for 
sin. It is only after the law is completely fulfilled, that its 
non-fulfillment is forgiven, only after the sentence is exe- 
cuted and the sacrifice consummated, that Justification can 
take place (Phil. 3 : 9). That there is a righteousness of 
God, obtained for us by Christ, is clearly taught in Scrip- 
ture (Rom. 10: 4; Gal. 4: 4, 5 ; Heb. 6:732 Cor. 5: 
21; Rom. 8: 3, 4; Phil. 3: 9). It is also equally clear 
that this righteousness which is not our own is imputed to 
us through faith (Rom. 3: 22, 25, 26; 10: 4; Rom. 1: 
16, 17; Phil. 3: 9). 

As the idea of that righteousness, which is imputed to 
us for Christ's sake, essentially confirms the judgment of 
the law of God against us, so does it also form the most 
important element for the consciousness of men when de- 
livered from the wrath of God by means of the Gospel. It 
is purely absurd to reproach this idea with its being "ex- 
ternally juristic. ' ' Possibly we may represent the work of 
Christ, for the sake of which God reckons the sinner right- 
eous, in so one-sided a way as to make this reproach ap- 
plicable, especially when with the doctrine of imputed 
righteousness, we omit and tacitly pass over what belongs 
to the complete picture of the operations of God in Christ 



! 



i©4 CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 

which act upon us. Nothing however of all this need take 
place, and the idea of imputed righteousness, that is, of a 
righteousness obtained by Christ and referred by God to men 
freely and purely of grace, remains inviolable. It is the 
palladium of true self-knowledge, of the right understand- 
ing of the law, of true self-judgment and self-condemna- 
tion. It always remains true, and for the whole of this 
earthly Christian life, not only for its beginning, but also up 
to the end, that Christ came to call not the righteous, but 
sinners to repentance, and to save such (Matt. 9 : 12; 1 
Tim. 1 : 15). And he who does not understand the dis- 
tinction between forgiveness of sins and imputed righteous- 
ness (justification), and inherent righteousness (growth in 
sanctification), who does not understand the contradiction 
of sinful saints and sanctified sinners, — whose solution lies 
alone in the idea of imputed righteousness, — is as yet ig- 
norant of the very central truth of the teaching of the 
gospel. 

As Christ came to complete the law, so did He also come 
to complete authority. Christ not only perfected the law 
by his teaching ; He completed it, in that he fulfilled it in 
his own personality, in his own life. He has fulfilled the 
law in our stead, which is the mystery of atonement. He 
continually completes it in us, which is the mystery of re- 
demption. 

This is the mystery of redemption, that the same Being 
who declares the requirements of the law is He who is to 
fulfil the law in us by His sanctifying and edifying grace 
in the Holy Spirit. Whilst he as the Redeemer receives 



THE LAW. 



us into, fellowship with Him, and by means of justifying 
faith gives us power to become the children of God, He in- 
spires us with the new desire, the new spirit, by which we 
can aspire after the ideal, though only in weakness, and 
through various stages of development. 

Whilst Roman Catholic theology describes Christ as a 
lawgiver, and while it has the tendency to make of the 
gospel a new law, and of Christ a new Moses, Protestant 
theologians hold that Christ is not a lawgiver like Moses, 
that he has not brought us a new and formal code, but it is 
He who has expounded and vindicated the law. He has 
not merely interpreted the law as it was given by Moses, 
but he has perfected it, — He has given a new command- 
ment,, the commandment of love, which is new by the po- 
sition he has given it towards grace (John. 13 : 34). 



SECTION V. 

THE BELIEVER'S NEW RELATION TO THE LAW. 

The New Relation to the Law. — Since Christ, as the 
personal unity of authority and grace, fulfils the law, a new 
relation is introduced between the law and human liberty. 
The Christian has a new life in him, which is born of faith. 
He now lives in Christ, and Christ lives in him (Gal. 4 ; 
20 \ Rom. 8: 1). The law of the Spirit of life in Christ 
Jesus has made him free from the law of sin and of death 
(Rom. 8 : 2-5). So far as he lives in faith, not only are 
conscience and law not against him, but he does not even 



106 CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 

stand under his conscience and the law, and law and con- 
science are not above him, but both live in him, and he 
lives in both, but not by virtue either of conscience or of 
the law. That in which the Christian finds peace and free- 
dom, is derived neither from his own conscience nor from 
the divine law. 

It is true indeed that the principle of a new life in which 
the Christian stands, whether we call it Christ, or the spirit 
of life, or freedom, or faith, is also called a law (" the law 
of Christ," Gal. 6:2; "the law of the Spirit of life," 
Rom. 8 : 2 : " the law of liberty," James 1 : 25 ; 2 : 12 ; 
Rom. 3 • 27). And not only is that which remains the 
task even of the Christian, in general, called " the keep- 
ing of the commandments of God" (1 Cor. 7: 19), but 
that specially which Christ exhorts us to do is called "a 
new commandment " (John 13: 34; cf. 1 John 2: 8). 

But the word law is here used in a different sense. We 
do not here understand by the word " law " a requirement 
made to man from without. The law of faith (Rom. 3 : 
27) is not a law which demands faith, but a law which be- 
longs to the nature of faith. The law of the spirit of life 
in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8 : 2) is that power indwelling in the 
spirit of life by an internal necessity, by virtue of which 
this spirit of life effects that freedom which is there spoken 
of. That which (James 1 : 25) calls the perfect law of lib- 
erty, is nothing else than the New Testament word of truth 
by which we Christians are regenerated (1 : 18), the im- 
planted word, which is able to save our souls (1 : 21). So 
Paul also (Gal. 6 : 2) calls the mutual bearing of each oth- 



THE LAW. 107 

er's burdens the fulfilling of the law of Christ. Who those 
are who can fulfil it, is definitely stated — those who do not 
stand under the law, but who are led by the Spirit of 
God (Gal. 5 : 18), who live in the Spirit and walk in the 
Spirit (5 : 25), and are therefore called spiritual men (6 : 
1). Christ the bearer of our burdens is not merely the 
law which regulates our conduct by a demand, but above 
all, an embodied type of the way in which the Spirit of 
Christ works in us, and makes us able to follow Christ, — 
and by the law of Christ we must understand that law em- 
bodied for us in Christ for the bearing of our mutual 
burdens. 

Similarly the case stands also with the commandments, 
or the new commandments of Christ. That this is a charge, 
a command in the true sense of the word, there can be no 
doubt. But it is not legal; it has not its origin in the 
law. Its source rests upon the love of Christ, springs up 
in us out of the love of Christ towards us. That we should 
hold fast to that love which has been kindled in us by the 
light of Christ's love streaming into our hearts — this is the 
new element in the commandment of love (John 13 : 34). 

The Christian apprehension of the law has sometimes 
had to combat with JVomz'sm, which, seeks to maintain the 
Old Testament external relation to the law, and in oppo- 
sition to evangelical liberty denies the spirit of the law, — 
and with Antinomianism, which in false emancipation and 
fanatic liberty, even denies the necessity and the universal 
obligation of law. Nomism has under the Old Testament 
reached the highest point in Pharisaism. It repeats itself 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



in Roman Catholicism, with its multiplicity of human de- 
vices. It repeats itself in Pietism, in which we constantly 
hear the demand, "Touch not, taste not, handle not" 
(Col. 2 : 21). In Nomism everything is parceled out into 
a multitude of individual commands and prescriptions 
which circumscribe liberty. 

The opposite extreme, or Antinomianism, was found al- 
ready in the Apostolic age, and we hear the apostles ex- 
horting their Christian followers to be " free, yet not using 
your freedom for a cloke of wickedness, but as bondser- 
vants of God" (i Pet. 2: 16). Antinomianism appears, 
moreover, at the time of the Reformation, and in our own 
days. 

Individual Antinomianism-. — Individual Antinomianism 
may be described in general as the right of the God-in- 
spired individual, at the cost of the universal obligation of 
duty. 

Among the Gnostics the spirit of Antinomianism was es- 
pecially seen. Some maintained that the true Gnostic was 
an ocean of spiritual power, and could not be sullied by 
anything, that the impurity was at once washed away by 
his exalted devotion. There are others, in later times, 
who have abused the Christian doctrine of grace and main- 
tained that we should boldly plunge into the depths of sin 
in order to quicken our perception of grace. 

But the essential fruit of faith is new obedience. The 
aspiration is to keep the law, and show loyalty even in the 
smallest matters. " Shall we continue in sin, that grace 
may abound? God forbid. We who died to sin, how 



THE LAW. 



shall we any longer live therein?" (Rom. 6: i, 2). 

Some would maintain that intellectual men, who are 
highly gifted, are released from the observance of the or- 
dinary rules of morality. Genius, it is said, must be judged 
after its own standard, and is not to be measured by the 
common standard. But, on the contrary, each one is to 
be judged according to his obedience, his fidelity, his sub- 
mission to God and God's government of the world, which 
resents every violation of the law, even the most trifling. 
And fidelity must be shown not merely in great things, but 
also in the smallest and most insignificant. From the 
standpoint of Christian Ethics, we continue to maintain 
that God's holy law knows no exceptions, and suffers no 
transgressions or neglects. 

Social Antinomianism. — There are social factions who 
deny the validity of the institutions appointed by God in 
human society, and set about the destruction of the Family, 
the State, and the Church. They say: "Why has God 
implanted in us desires if we have not a right to satisfy 
them ?' ' With reference to all such social Antinomianism, 
we would simply say, that there will never enter into this 
present worldly condition any season in which the sacred- 
ness of marriage, the inviolability of property, the relation 
of sovereign and subject, of clergy and laity, will cease to 
be binding on the consciences of men. 

It is a famous maxim, what might be called the funda- 
mental article both of political Antinomianism and Jesui- 
tism, that the end hallows the means, that the good design 
of furthering the well-being of the whole atones for the 



no 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



wrong-doing in the individual, when this is necessary to 
the attainment of the end. 

But a retributive justice punishes every crime, not merely 
that which is committed in private life, but also that which 
is committed in history, though it may tarry long, and then 
arrive suddenly and unexpectedly. 

Jesuitism. — In Jesuitism, Antinomiariism is combined 
with a false nomism. For only one absolute and unalter- 
able duty is enjoined, obedience to the Pope. All other 
duties are variable, and may be modified by circumstances, 
and must be determined according to the object in view. 

The great extension and entrance which Jesuitism has 
found, rests on the circumstance that it has a powerful ally 
in the natural heart of man, and that Jesuitic morality is a 
striking form of the morality of the sinful heart of the man, 
which Jesuitism has only brought into system. 



SECTION VI. 

ETHICAL FORBEARANCE. 

The Permissible. — The essential and necessary relation 
between freedom and law embraces the whole life of lib- 
erty ; and in the sphere of liberty there is nothing which 
is indifferent or permissible, in the sense that it is not to be 
entirely regulated by duty. Duty embraces the whole life 
of liberty as a unity, and is one with the very ideal of per- 
sonality. 

Adiaphora. — In matters of indifference, the adiaphora. 



THE LAW. 



in 



all things are lawful for me ; but all things are not expe- 
dient (i Cor. 6:12). I have the right to do them, and 
no one can morally dispute this right ; but on my own part 
the use of this right must be regulated by my individual 
ideal of personality. But I must also apply to myself the 
biblical canon, "Whatsoever is not of faith is sin " (Rom. 
14: 23). 

Ethical Forbearance. — As liberty must be the minister 
of love, the question arises whether actions which we are 
otherwise justified in doing, ought not in certain cases to 
be avoided, because the weak in society might be thereby 
offended, that is to say, either perplexed in their con- 
sciences in regard to what is right and wrong, or become 
uncertain regarding the character of the person so acting. 

In all ages there has been an opposition between an 
austere party among Christians, who predominantly con- 
sider the relation to the world as renunciation, and con- 
stantly repeat: "Touch not," etc.; and a less austere 
party, who maintain that the earth is the Lord's and the 
fulness thereof, and nothing is impure in itself except sin. 

The golden mean is the truth. Accommodation must be 
combined with correction. Although, we ought to guard 
against offending the weak, yet we ought not to allow our- 
selves to be placed by the weak under any law of thraldom, 
and under all circumstances we should maintain the prin- 
ciple of evangelical liberty. 

Just as it is for the sake of the weak that we must abstain 
from certain actions, so too, we must do some things in 
order not to offend them. There are usages and fashions 



112 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



to the observance of which we only find ourselves obliged 
by the consideration of love to our neighbor. Here also 
we may go back to Paul, who caused Timothy, who on the 
mother's side belonged to the Jews, to be circumcised 
(Acts 1 6 : 3), in order to promote his usefulness among 
the Jewish Christians, but when it was wished to force Ti- 
tus, who was a gentile Christian, to be circumcised (Gal. 
2 : 3), as if circumcision was essential to salvation, he op- 
posed it with all his energy, insisting that " in Christ Jesus 
neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, 
but faith working through love " (Gal. 5 : 6). 



SECTION VII. 

DUTIES. 

Duty and Supererogatory Perfection. — In order to estab- 
lish the idea of works of moral supererogation, which im- 
ply a surplus of virtue and perfection, appeal has been 
made to the distinction between the commands of the gos- 
pel and its exhortations. A command is that to which all 
are bound ; an exhortation, on the other hand, is an ad- 
vice to those who aspire after a higher perfection than that 
to which they are pledged. Such counsel, some imagine, 
may be found in the Lord's words to the rich young man 
(Matt. 19: 21), and in the advice of Paul to the Chris- 
tians, after his own example to remain in the state of celi- 
bacy (1 Cor. 7). But this is a misrepresentation of God's 
law. No one can do more than fulfil his duty. The uni- 



THE LAW. 



113 



versal requirement, which the Lord makes of all, is cer- 
tainly that they should not set their heart upon earthly 
things, and that when the circumstances of the times make 
a choice necessary between giving up Christ or giving up 
their possessions, that they should be prepared for this last. 
The word of the Lord is not therefore a mere counsel, but 
a command addressed to the individual. 

Examples of works of supererogation are found in rich 
abundance in the Roman Catholic Church, especially 
throughout the whole of monastic life, with its ascetic self- 
inflicted tortures. The truth in these efforts is an enthu- 
siastic aspiration after the ideal, a struggle to get away 
from the external relation of the law. 

Duty and the Present Mojnent. — As the moral life must 
be a unity, a connected whole, the normal relation of lib- 
erty to the law appears in this, that life is to be so planned 
that there may be time for the fulfilment of its various du- 
ties ; and everything must get its time, and be done at the 
right time. Hence it belongs also to the right division of 
time among the various duties of life, that there be pro- 
duced a scheme of life, nay, a daily scheme, which ex- 
cludes the many unfilled pauses. 

To use time, morally, will therefore mean, under all the 
changes of time, to hold fast our individual life-task, and 
to use the present moment in the service of the spirit. 

yEsthetically we may say that want of time is want of 
genius ; for genius accomplishes in a very short time, and 
in right time, what others cannot accomplish in an unlim- 

9 



ii4 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



ited time. Ethically expressed, want of time is want of 
moral energy and wisdom. 

Collision of Duties. — The question arises, whether there 
may be a collision of duties ; for instance, a concurrence 
of different duties, demanding fulfilment at the same 
time. 

There can be no collision when the matter is considered 
in a purely objective and ideal light. But to the indi- 
vidual such a collision may arise. But in the ordinary 
course of life, the collision of duties has most frequently 
its cause in a previous neglect, or because life has not been 
teleologically planned. 

In all collision of duties the claims of justice must be 
preferred to those of affection. One should pay his debts 
in the first place, and from what remains to him of his 
means give to those who need. The opposite course would 
be after the example of Saint Crispin, who took leather 
which did not belong to him to make shoes for the poor. 

Collision and Casuistry. — In real life, cases of casuistry 
must be solved either by direct genial tact, that is, by the 
happy inspiration of the moment, or by sustained reflec- 
tion. Resolute, impulsive natures are specially fitted for 
the first mode of decision, cautious and thoughtful natures 
for the second. 



THE LAW. 



SECTION VIII. 

THE REGENERATE AND THE LAW. 

Can the Regenerate fulfil the Law ? — As only love to 
God in perfect union with obedience can fulfil the law, it 
is beyond all doubt that the unregenerate cannot fulfil it. 
The question here is, whether the regenerate are able to 
fulfil the law's demands. 

The Roman Catholic Church expressly teaches that it is 
possible in this life perfectly to satisfy the law, making 
however the remarkable restriction, "according to the 
condition of this present life." But in this life, we cannot 
satisfy the law, because carnal nature does not cease to 
bring forth wicked dispositions (even inclination and de- 
sire), even though the spirit in us resists them. In the good 
deeds of the regenerate there always enters an element of 
sin, because in our good deeds there is always something 
which needs forgiveness. The Lord's Prayer is given to 
all, and for every stage of development of the Christian 
life ; and Scripture acknowledges no degree of perfection 
in this present life, in which the petition : " Forgive us 
our trespasses," is no longer necessary. Doubtless, how- 
ever, during the progress of sanctification, sin is more and 
more thrust out from the inward man to the outer, from the 
most holy place to the outer court of the temple. 

Merit and Reward. — In the kingdom of God we cannot 
speak of a reward of merit, but there may be mention of a 
reward of grace. The difference in the reward is described 
in Scripture, for " He that soweth sparingly shall reap also 



n6 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



sparingly ; and he that soweth bountifully shall reap also 
bountifully (2 Cor. 9 : 6). The unity in reward, the gen- 
eral reward which is common to faithful laborers is set 
forth in the parable of the laborers in the vineyard (Math. 
20 : 1-16). The parable of the talents (Luke 19 : 12-27) 
treats of the individualized relation to the different stages 
in the work of sanctifi cation. 

The significance of the Law to the Regenerate. — Do the 
regenerate require the preaching of the law ? Christians 
during their pilgrimage here on earth can not arrive at 
such perfection as to have no more need of the law. Agri- 
cola taught that the preaching of repentance to the uncon- 
verted ought not to be a preaching of the law, but of the 
love of Christ, in his sufferings and death for our sins, in 
order to touch and to turn the heart. And still less should 
the law be preached to the already converted Christian, in 
whose ears the glad tidings alone should be sounded. 
Luther on the other hand, however, maintains that the law 
should be preached both to the unregenerate and the re- 
generate ; to the unregenerate that they may be awakened 
and alarmed ; to the regenerate, that they fall not into a 
false peace and security. 

Protestant theology maintains the sound doctrine by its 
representation of the triple use of the law, (1) political, to 
keep order in society; (2) disciplinary, pedagogic, to 
awaken the conviction of sin, alarm the conscience, and 
thus become a schoolmaster to bring men to Christ ; and 
(3) didactic, instructive even for the regenerate. 



THE LAW. 



117 



SECTION IX. 

THE EDUCATING GRACE OF GOD IN CHRIST. 

Christ and the Nations. — Christ is not a teacher, a cen- 
sor, a law-giver, like Moses. Yet we can nevertheless and 
we must speak of the educating grace of God in Christ, 
" for the grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation 
to all men, instructing us, to the intent that, denying un- 
godliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly and 
righteously and godly in this present world ' ' (Titus 2 : 
11, 12). And as God's educating grace shows itself in the 
life of the individual, so also in that of the nations. For 
it is a great error to imagine that Christ's authority should 
only extend to the individual, or at the highest to the 
house, to the family, but not to the people and State. 
Christ affirms marriage to be a divine ordinance ; and in 
the command to render unto Caesar the things which are 
Caesar's, and unto God the things that are God's, He 
affirms even heathen states to be a divine ordinance. But 
the principal declaration by which he asserts his authority 
in relation to society is his injunction to the disciples, " Go 
ye therefore, and make disciples of all the nations, baptiz- 
ing them into the name of the Father and of the Son and 
of the Holy Ghost : teaching them to observe all things 
whatsoever I commanded you : and lo, I am with you 
alway, even unto the end of the world" (Matt. 28: 
19, 20). 

Authority and Liberty in the Development of Society. — 
On the relation between authority and liberty rests every 



1 1 8 CHRISTIAN E THICS. 

organized society. The divine word, the law and the gos- 
pel, is the same at all times. But its interpretation, its 
application and introduction into reality, is entrusted to 
the Church, as steward of the divine mysteries. And al- 
though the Lord has promised the Church his Spirit, which 
guides us into all truth, still he has not given his Church 
infallibility in the sense in which the Romish Church em- 
ploys the term. The authority of the Church, both in re- 
gard to doctrine and the arrangements and constitution 
of God's worship, is only relative, has its validity only in 
its accordance with the absolute authority of the divine 
word. God has given us the absolute principle of author- 
ity in Christ, in his Word and his Spirit ; but to man him- 
self, under the leadings of providence, and under the gui- 
dance of his Spirit, God has committed the solemn trust 
of constructing the edifice of society. 

Conservatism aud Progress. — Genuine conservatism must 
of necessity determine itself to progress. The only certain 
means against age and decay is the continuance of growth. 

Both conservatism and progress, at last return to the re- 
lation between authority and liberty, because every regula- 
tion of society is determined by this relation. 

Christianity and the Law. — Christianity sharpens and 
completes every demand of the law, not merely for the in- 
dividual, but also for society ; and it proffers to men the 
grace of the gospel, whilst at the same time it expresses as 
a demand of conscience that men should accept the invi- 
tation. 

Transition to the Special part of Ethics. — Our preceding 



THE LAW. 



119 



presentation has chiefly been directed to fundamental prin- 
ciples and universal laws, but now we must apply these 
principles to the facts of actual iife. 

As human life is the most complicated we know, so there 
is no more complicated science than Ethics. In special 
Ethics we discuss (1) Life under the Law and Sin ; (2) Life 
in Imitation of Christ ; and (3) The Moral Life of Society 
and the Kingdom of God. 



INDIVIDUAL ETHICS. 



PART I -LIFE UNDER THE LAW AND SIN. 



CHAPTER I. 

LIFE WITHOUT LAW. 



SECTION I. 

THE NATURAL MAN. 

Distinction between Life under the Law and Life under 
Grace. — Every human life that has not become a partaker 
of redemption is a life under the law, in opposition to the 
life under grace. The chief and central requirement of the 
law is : " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy 
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind ' ' (Matt. 
22: 37). But man with his natural power is unable to ful- 
fil this great and first commandment. This command- 
ment is not an external command, imposed upon man, but 
the inmost, deepest requirement of his own being. The 
non-fulfilment of this command establishes the fact that 
the world with all its glory and so-called virtues is under 
sin. And though there may be a relative fulfilling of the 
(120) 



LIFE WITHOUT LAW. 



121 



law outside the domain of redemption, for in a certain sense 
man can exercise virtue and good works, as can be seen 
from the highest morals in heathenism and in modern hu- 
manity divorced from Christianity, still the entire human 
state within which the virtues are exercised is a state of un- 
righteousness, in which man, instead of having the centre 
of his life in God, has it only in himself or in this world. 
St. Paul describes all men as " by nature children of wrath " 
(Eph. 2:3). In man's inmost part, humility and love to 
God are wanting ; a darkness has entered there and in that 
darkness is enthroned the will, averted from God and di- 
verted to its own self. 

Life according to mere Nature. — " I was alive apart from 
the law once," says the Apostle Paul (Rom. 7 : 9), by 
which he would say, that there was a time in which he lived 
in a state of security without regard to the divine law. He, 
no doubt, refers to his early life including his Pharisaic 
period, when he lived apart from the law, because the law 
did not yet alarm or accuse him. This period would nat- 
urally include the first stage of childhood, with its uncon- 
sciousness and partial innocence. At all events he here 
indicates a state which we may call the fire-ethical, where 
the struggle between the spirit and the flesh, between con- 
science and desire, has not yet fully awaked, where the 
consciousness of duty is still superficial. The will is only 
the natural will, which has not yet become a self-conscious 
moral will. The state of childhood and youth, outside of 
Christ, may be regarded as a life without law in the given 
meaning of the word. In childhood we have not yet be- 



122 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



come conscious of the earnest problem of personality, and 
of the hidden contradictions within our existence, which 
bring such severe contests with them when we become 
older. This life according to mere nature may- run out in 
a twofold way, for as we can conceive of a young innocent 
maiden, who grows up under the unconscious influence of 
domestic discipline and manners, following her nature, led 
by a happy instinct, — and of a genial youth, whose healthy 
nature preserves him from the ways of immorality, so on 
the other hand there are many others of whose bad nature 
we speak. There are many who already in childhood and 
youth are defiled with shame, with sins and vices, but who 
for all that are going on without law, that is, they are not 
conscious of their sin as sin, they know not what they do, 
or at least only very slightly. These states of childhood 
are indeed very variously modified in different individuals 
through education and position of life, still it may be said 
of the great generality of mankind " they were alive apart 
from the law once," — they reflected not on what they 
should do, they lived in happy, careless comfort and secur- 
ity, they followed their feelings and desires, they lived a 
life according to mere nature. 



SECTION II. 

PERSONAL CHARACTER. 

Nature and Character. — Man as a moral being must 

cultivate, give form to his nature, and through his free 

- 

self-determination, develop for himself a character. For 



LIFE WITHOUT LAW. 



123 



duty and our earthly calling, by means of a progressive se- 
ries of transactions, force the development of one's nature, 
give to it an essential impress, and form a character, which 
is good or bad, strong or weak. 

Natural Virtues and Faults. — Every one who seeks to 
form his character, on close examination of himself, may 
be able to discern that he possesses certain natural virtues 
which contribute to his fulfilment of duty, while at the 
same time, he discerns that he is without certain other nat- 
ural virtues, nay, even he discovers that he has certain 
natural faults which become ethical faults as soon as he ad- 
mits them into his will, and which, unhappily he already 
finds in his volition and action, before he applies himself 
to resist them. This brings us to a certain duality, a con- 
tradiction in human nature, which will be best illustrated 
by examining the variety of human temperaments on the 
one hand, and the difference of the male and female na- 
ture, on the other. 



SECTION III. 

THE TEMPERAMENTS. 

. The Sanguine Temperament. — Temperament is, essen- 
tially, simply the normal basis on which morality is to de- 
velop itself; it does not, however, itself determine the 
moral life-task, but only has influence in throwing it into 
its peculiar form. He whose character is shaped only by his 
temperament has no character. 

We begin with the sanguine temperament, which may be 



124 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



fitly designated as the enjoying temperament. It lets life 
immediately, and without reflection, press in on it, and 
thus is especially suited to childhood. The peculiarity of 
this temperament consists in the all-sided susceptibility for 
the most varied impressions. It disposes the man to move ^ 
with the greatest ease in the varied manifoldness of life, to 
pass with the same ease from one interest to another. But 
this same temperament opposes great hindrances to the ful- 
filment of duty, because it disposes to flightiness, to super- 
ficiality, and so to split up life into an unconnected multi- 
plicity, as well as finally, to indecision and unreliability. 
Every one in whom this temperament predominates will 
have struggle enough with himself. 

The Melancholic Tempera?nent. — In contrast to the san- 
guine as the enjoying temperament, we may designate the 
melancholic as the suffering or sentimental temperament. 
It inclines one to take life on the earnest side, and to sad- 
ness, so that one is disposed to remembrance and to long- 
ing, and lives in the past or the future, as one cannot find 
his satisfaction in the present. To this temperament youth 
especially corresponds, without needing, on that account, 
to expel the sanguine ; it belongs especially to that time of 
life in which love to the other sex awakes, to the age in 
which ideas are still fermenting, and have assumed no 
shape. No higher ideal effort is possible without an ele- 
ment of the melancholic. 

It inclines to deeper meditation, and disposes to give 
ear to the voices of the spirit, which speak to the soul even 
amid the throng and confusion of daily life. But it also 



LIFE WITHOUT LAW. 



opposes hindrances to the fulfilment and even consciousness 
of duty, as the melancholic person has a propensity to live 
in his mood. While the man of sanguine terperament 
passes with ease from one feeling, or mental state to an- 
other, the melancholic person is bound to one and the same 
state and mood, and he is in danger of becoming unprac- 
tical. If one does not succeed in mastering this tempera- 
ment, ethically and disciplinarily, there is developed in the 
soul a consuming selfishness. While the man with a one- 
sided sanguine temperament takes a false optimistic view 
of life, the melancholist falls into a false pessimism. If the 
man of a sanguine temperament is specially given to sen- 
sual sins, there is developed in the melancholist, simply be- 
cause he is so infinitely important to himself, — a secret 
pride, a morbid vanity, which runs into distrust of other 
men. 

The Bilious Temperament. — The choleric or bilious tem- 
perament is very properly to be designated the practical, 
and belongs especially to mature age. It disposes to ac- 
tion, to energetic engagement in life, to courage and en- 
durance, and is so far advantageous to the ethical life. On 
the other hand, however, this temperament is inclined to 
obstinacy and stubbornness, to that narrowness which steers 
often to only one point, blind to the many other require- 
ments addressed to the moral will. The cardinal faults of 
the man of this temperament are usually pride, the lust 
of power, anger and irritability, hatred, revenge, and 
jealousy. 

The Phlegmatic Temperament. — The direct opposite of 



126 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



the choleric is the phlegmatic temperament, which we may 
call the contemplative, or more accurately, the quietistic, 
the temperament of peace and rest, of discretion and inner 
calm. Now such a temperament is indeed helpful to ethi- 
cal effort, but the phlegmatist is inclined to indifference, 
insensibility, sloth and sleepy rest, and there is but too 
often found a hard, cold, and indifferent heart. 

The types of temperament, however, do not usually ap- 
pear under these pure forms; generally they are com- 
mingled and toned down. Nor does a temperament al- 
ways remain the same, but it changes with the outward re- 
lations and age of the person. 



SECTION IV. 

THE DIFFERENCE OF SEXES. 

The Male and Female Nature. — Though the sexual dif- 
ference embraces the whole individuality, for man and 
woman are differently organized, both psychically and bod- 
ily, still we must confine ourselves to the most general 
features of this difference. Man is organized to manifest 
humanity mainly in the universal direction, wherefore the 
spheres of his activity are the state and civil society, science 
and art ; woman, on the other hand, in the individual di- 
rection, wherefore she finds her sphere of work chiefly in 
the family and in domestic life. If we name courage as 
the chief virtue of the male nature, that of the female may 
be designated as gentleness or the gentle heart, whereby 



LIFE WITHOUT LAW. 



127 



she is fitted to become man's helper. Although all the 
four temperaments are found in the woman as well as in the 
man, yet the choleric and phlegmatic temperaments are 
more akin to the man, the sanguine and melancholic to the 
woman. 

The moral life-work of each is different in the details, 
but in both it is of like dignity; it is simply two different 
mutually-complementing phases of the same morality. 
The difference of the two sexes is not to be toned down, 
but to be developed into moral harmony. It is the duty 
of man to cultivate his manliness, and of the woman to 
cultivate her womanliness. 

Special Gifts of Woman. — Because the man is adapted 
for universal humanity, he possesses a far greater power of 
thought than the woman, possesses the power to engage 
both theoretically and practically in the struggle with ex- 
istence, On the other hand, the woman is adapted for the 
harmony of nature and the spirit. In her knowledge she 
embraces all things intuitively, and thereby is able in many 
cases to know the true and right, where the man through 
his very reflection is hindered from seeing this. Although 
she does not possess the man's gift of abstraction, she is 
yet susceptible of the highest ideas, and can understand all. 
Only it must be presented to her in clear and concrete 
forms ; for otherwise she does not understand it ; or if she 
understands it, it does not interest her, and she at once lets 
it go. She feels more strongly drawn to art than to 
science, and above all, she is fitted for religion, in that 
she, as the weaker creature, feels more deeply her depen- 
dence and her need of a higher help and support. 



128 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



Special Temptations of each Sex. — Man has to struggle 
with temptations to the love of power, to ambition, to 
covetousness ; woman with the temptation to vanity. It is 
a frequent fault of men to despise the single, the small, the 
unimportant, to overlook the nearest, because they are bus- 
ied with problems that lie beyond the moment. Herein 
the woman has an advantage, in that with her sense for the 
single and special, she unites the sense for what is small 
and near. She possesses an eminent talent to live in the 
present moment, is never at a loss for time. With the 
most trifling means she knows how to make a home com- 
fortable, and from the simplest flowers that no one regarded, 
she weaves the fairest garlands. 

While the man is in danger of sacrificing the reality of 
circumstances to logical consistency, the woman has the 
advantage of being determined by feeling, by the heart, by 
moral tact, in her dealings. But as the woman is the 
weaker part, she cannot carry out her will simply by force, 
but endeavors to do so by craft. In indirect ways she 
gains influence and dominion, seeks to gain the mastery 
over the man, in order, by means of him, to execute her 
plans. Craft, dissimulation, and intrigues, belong to the 
shady side of female nature. And as the craft of women is 
known from of old, so also female hatred and revenge. 

However frequently both man arid woman have been de- 
picted, yet daily experience will bring under our notice 
ever new features, for the theme is inexhaustible. 



LIFE WITHOUT LAW. 



129 



SECTION V. 

THE PURSUIT OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

The Earnestness of Life. — With the earnestness of the 
law and of duty begins also, in its deepest meaning, the 
earnestness of life. Most men find the earnestness of life 
exclusively in adversities, in cares of life and debts, in 
sickness, and nearness of death ; they realize that it is ne- 
cessity which makes life earnest. But, in a higher sense, 
the earnestness of life begins with the knowledge of the law, 
and what is inseparable therefrom, the knowledge of sin. 
And our inmost longing is that this earnestness of life may 
be transformed into joy, this necessity into freedom. 

The Pursuit of Righteousness. — The earnestness of my 
life ought to consist in this, that I do my duty, and not 
only do it, but myself be good. I am to follow "right- 
eousness," by which we in the present connection under- 
stand the personal direction of the will, in so far as it is in 
harmony with what we ought to be by the requirement of 
duty and the ideal. 

With the earnestness of duty, the important question 
arises, How can I rid my nature of the inner schism within 
me, which hinders me from doing good and being good ? 
The ordinary answer is, Cultivate thy nature morally, make 
it an obedient organ for thy will, determined by duty and 
zeal. But is this possible by man's own means? Is man 
able through his own endeavor or strength to cast out of 
his nature the inner schism, which manifests itself as always 
the deeper, the more we grow in the knowledge of the di- 
vine law ? 
10 



i3° 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



We will try to answer this question by examining the 
various forms in which the righteousness of the law has 
manifested itself, and here consider especially civil right- 
eousness, philosophical righteousness, and the righteousness 
of the Scribes and Pharisees. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE CHIEF FORMS OF MORAL LIFE UNDER THE LAW. 



SECTION I. 

CIVIL RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

The Morality of the Natural Man. — The historical 
appearance of morality, as seen in the natural man, in the 
sphere of the family, the state, and society, we designate as 
civil righteousness. The individual here knows only spe- 
cial duties, he has not taken up duty itself, the good itself, — 
the feeling of duty does not embrace the whole life of his 
personality. 

Civil righteousness was found already in Greek and Ro- 
man heathenism, and we have numerous examples of great 
devotion to the state, of enthusiastic sacrifice for the love 
of country, combined with fidelity in the civil calling. Be- 
side the patriotic and civil virtues, features of personal 
worth often also show themselves, as mildness, beneficence, 
temperance, and chastity. There are also examples of fam- 
ily love, which is attested as true and genuine by its in- 
ner moral value. We may refer to Coriolanus, and the 
character of Antigone as painted by Sophocles. Heathen- 
ism also shows us lofty examples of mutual, free devotion, 

(13*) 



132 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



mutual fidelity and sacrifice, as in the friendship of Achilles 
and Patroclus, of Damon and Pythias. 

But this heathen morality we can designate as particular- 
istic morality, because the personality is limited to single 
parts of the moral, and does not yet know of a morality 
embracing the whole man. 

Particularistic Morality hiadequate. — Such a morality, 
known as the particularistic morality, is still repeated at the 
present day before Gur eyes in the midst of Christendom. 
Whenever a man has become estranged from Christianity, 
he must live on the basis of heathenism. At the moment 
our consciousness of duty is limited to single elements of 
the moral, and are bound thereto, we come back in the 
main to the same ' ' elements" or "rudiments" (Gal. 4: 
3, 9) as in the ancient world. Those who occupy this 
standpoint imagine that they are on the best terms with 
the true moral law, that they not only can fulfil it, but also 
actually do fulfil its requirements. That numerous indi- 
viduals in the midst of Christendom occupy this standpoint, 
will hardly be denied by any. But all this is but a civil 
righteousness, and is limited and imperfect. 

The problem of morality is not limited to one virtue. 
The problem of man is not simply to be a citizen, a father, 
a brother, a friend, but above all this, to be man. With 
great dutifulness and devotion in filling an appointed 
sphere there may be found at the same time much self-will 
and obstinacy, much unrighteousness and inhumanity in 
other spheres. 

Particularism sometimes appears as an unconditional de- 



LIFE UNDER THE LAW. 



133 



votion to some special calling in life. No matter how high 
or ideal the nature of this calling may be, it ought never 
to assert itself at the expense of the development of a man's 
whole personality. No man is entitled to devote his life 
unconditionally to any other idea than that of the good. 
Many have become famous as poets, artists, men of learn- 
ing, who nevertheless occupy morally a very low, or at 
least, a limited standpoint. There are many who are very 
conscientious in the performance of the duties of their 
calling, who neglect the most urgent duties of private life, 
especially watchfulness over the development of their own 
personality. It has well been said : "Who can be man, 
husband, father, friend, and yet write so immoderately 
many books?" To the patriot, the man of learning, the 
politician, the man is sacrified, and life is sacrificed to the 
idea. Even in the business pursuits of life, — be it those 
of the official, the merchant, the mechanic, — the rush and 
wear of unceasing activity absorbs the life of the personal- 
ity and not only arrests its development, but makes it im- 
possible to develop it. 

Considerations of this kind ought to lead directly to a 
feeling of the need of religion and of faith. But experi- 
ence teaches that they may lead to a purely ethical stand- 
point, which is not religious. But the man thus comes, in 
a deeper sense, under the law, for the law from henceforth 
more and more augments its requirements. 



134 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



SECTION II. 

PHILOSOPHICAL RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

As sought by the Ancient Philosophers. — Even the heathen 
knew of something better than civil righteousness. Their 
wise men sought by means of reason to discover the highest 
good, and the right way of living. They maintained that 
philosophy was the only way to righteousness and happi- 
ness. 

As the most distinct type of philosophic righteousness 
we may name Stoicism. Amid the misery in the world 
the Stoics seek to find something within them that is firm 
and immovable, and they make it their problem to gain the 
highest good by each one developing himself to personal 
perfection. The "Thoughts" of the Roman Emperor, 
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, are still worth reading, as well 
as the writings of Epictetus and Seneca. 

Life according to Reason. — Those who in modern times 
seek by the light of reason and the power of their own will, 
to realize a personal perfection, fall back on the principles 
of Stoicism. 

With more or less clearness, they occupy the standpoint 
• which Kant has thus formulated ; Universal human duty, 
embracing the whole man, must be the highest norm for a 
life according to reason ; every regard to happiness and 
external well-being must disappear ; I must be content in 
the consciousness that I have done my duty as a man. He 
who would realize this aim, this ideal of personality, must, 
according to Kant, first of all seek self-knowledge. 



LIFE UNDER THE LAW. 



135 



Self-knowledge. — According to the ideal of philosophi- 
cal righteousness, all self-knowledge must be gained 
through contemplation, through quiet self-consideration 
and self-inspection. And in order that this self-knowl- 
edge remain not one-sided, it must be developed by means 
of practical life. As an example of a self-knowledge 
mainly accomplished on the standpoint of the ideal and of 
contemplation, we may mention the famous Monologues 
of Schleiermacher, who in this work sets forth with stoical 
enthusiasm his ideal of philosophical righteousness. And 
though these "Monologues" have kindled the enthusiasm 
of many youths, and have promoted a higher moral devel- 
opment of their personality, yet the views therein pre- 
sented are by far too optimistic, and as a practical coun- 
terpoise from a philosophical standpoint, it would be well 
to read the works of Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus, just 
because both these Stoics fix their glance not exclusively on 
the ideal, which fills the mind with the consciousness of 
human elevation and dignity, but constantly compare real- 
ity with the ideal, and thereby pave the way to humility. 

From the optimistic height we will now descend to the 
plains of reality, and examine more closely what the hin- 
drances to the pursuit of perfection are, and by what means 
these hindrances may be overcome. 

The Internal Contradiction in Human Nature. — A thor- 
ough self-knowledge cannot rest content with a knowledge 
merely of the individual temperament, but must seek to be- 
come acquainted with the hindrances which are common 
to all men. If thou wilt know thyself, thou must know 



136 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



man. But what is the chief hindrance to a higher moral- 
ity ? We must answer : an impure egoistic will that has 
pleasure in evil as such. 

There is an inner schism between my ideal rational will 
and my egoistic will, which may be designated as my double 
will. The impulses of human nature are not to be rooted 
out, these have only to be ordered and governed, — but the 
perverted direction of the will must be changed. Kant 
has named the chief hindrance of the good in us the radi- 
cal evil, and as chief forms of evil he adduces: (1) the 
weakness of human nature; (2) the uncleanness of the hu- 
man heart, which will not follow the maxim of morality 
except mingled with motives of self-love ; and (3) the bad- 
ness and corruption of the human heart as such. From the 
merely human standpoint, there could hardly be possible a 
deeper insight into the essence of the inner schism of hu- 
man nature. Christianity, however, teaches us that the in- 
ner contradiction of human nature lies still deeper, that it 
is not only a conflict between the rational will of man and 
his egoistic will, but a conflict between man's and God's 
will. 

But self-knowledge is chiefly and essentially gained 
through experience. And he who uprightly and earnestly 
pursues rational righteousness, will attain a preparatory 
self-knowledge. 

Struggling Virtue and Insufficient Means. — That we may 
attain peace of mind it is necessary that the conflict be- 
tween our rational will and egoistic will be done away. In 
order to reach our ideal there must be an earnest struggle. 



LIFE UNDER THE LAW. 



137 



But what helps do we possess, on our merely human stand- 
point, to gain the victory ? 

Mere knowledge of the good is not an adequate means 
of becoming virtuous, and yet even a Socrates entertained 
this heathenish illusion. He thought that if men are bad, 
the reason of it lies not in their will, but in their igno- 
rance; that if men could only be brought to the right 
knowledge of the good, they would also entirely love it. 
This false conception is still prevalent at the present day, 
that through enlightenment and progressive culture, men 
and the world would become better. 

Knowledge is no doubt indispensable. But beyond 
knowledge a power is required by which knowledge may 
become operative. In our present natural state we have 
not this power to will and to perform, nor can we obtain 
it by our own strength. Our knowing is ever far in ad- 
vance of our willing, "for not what I would, that do I 
practise; but what I hate, that I do " (Rom. 7 : 15). 

Inadequate Means. — Aristotle, although emphasizing the 
indispensableness of the knowledge of the good in over- 
coming evil, lays greater stress upon the educating of the 
will through exercise. He maintains that through exercise 
and custom, through the continued repetition of the same 
actions, our natural, evil inclinations are gradually toned 
down, so that the ethical and the physical finally work to- 
gether in harmony. This is indeed an excellent direction, 
especially when the exercise can be begun in childhood. 
But here there arises a very great difficulty. Befa'e I be- 
gan to plan my life ethically, I had already formed bad 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



habits, and through, exercise, not merely the good, but also 
the evil habits, become a second nature to me. 

But even granting that a man by accustoming himself 
to right dealings relatively succeeds in an outward appear- 
ance of rectitude and virtue, still he will find impurity in 
his heart, and a mixture of various selfish motives. 

Kant, therefore, holds that if we would become virtuous, 
we must will from duty, that is, from respect to the law, and 
that in the degree that this respect gains the dominion over 
all other feelings and inclinations, our moral sentiment be- 
comes pure. 

Bondage of Duty. — But this motive of respect to law is 
entirely inadequate to procure for us peace, inner harmony, 
and agreement with ourselves. For one of the peculiari- 
ties of our inner depraved nature is that we often cannot 
love what we are compelled to respect, and we often are 
led to love what we cannot respect. Who is to give me a 
gladsome, happy heart that is entirely of the same kind 
and sentiment as the requirement of the law ? 

This condition in which we must incessantly ply our- 
selves w r ith rod and bridle, is nothing less than a state un- 
der the law, under the bondage of duty, — a state of dis- 
cord and of division, proceeding from our own twofold 
will. I do my duty, but with inner resistance; for my 
willing and desiring, my whole heart's longing strives for 
the side opposed to my duty, and must therefore be con- 
stantly reined in and restrained. But man cannot reach 
the goal of happiness by turning his back upon duty. 

J&sthetic Education. — Some have thought that a combi- 



LIFE UNDER THE LAW. 



139 



nation of the ethical and the aesthetic would be the means 
to remove the schism between duty and inclination, and 
that this end could be reached by combining the moral 
with the aesthetic education of man. It was Schiller who 
'has inspired many with this thought. He lays great stress 
upon aesthetic culture as the means to develop the sense 
for the beautiful and the lofty, and he directs us first to na- 
ture and the life in close communion with it. He main- 
tains that grand scenes in nature, the grandeur of moun- 
tains, the contemplation of the starry heavens, or of the 
boundless ocean, are fitted to awaken in the human heart 
heroic purposes and conclusions, thoughts and efforts such 
as are hardly bred in gloomy cities, in the narrow study, or 
in splendid drawing-rooms. Yet nature is a mere lower 
school for the contemplation of the lofty. A better school 
is history, which presents to us the awfully glorious specta- 
cle of a change of things destroying all, and restoring, and 
then again destroying. 

But aesthetic education is only finished by fine art, 
which in its creations places the ideal before our eyes. 
And so Schiller developing this idea, regards the dramatic 
stage or theatre as a moral institution, whose effect is at 
once to ennoble and to free, to educate and to amuse. It 
is according to him, a school of practical wisdom, a key to 
the human soul, that thus collecting its spectators from all 
circles, and from all classes, causes them to forget their 
differences in social relations, fills them with the same sym- 
pathy, causes them to forget themselves and the rest of the 
world, and come nearer their heavenly origin. Such in 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



brief outline is Schiller's doctrine of aesthetic education, as 
wonderful as it is misleading. 

The ethical question which arises is simply this : Will 
such an aesthetic education as here depicted be able to be- 

l 

get a really harmonious morality, and to free man from 
the bondage of the law and of duty already referred to ? 

The real fact of the case is that the aesthetic education 
here so highly commended to us, instead of promoting and 
co-operating with the ethical, rather presents us hindrances 
and dangers which have to be avoided and combated. In- 
deed it is the experience of the religious life that such a 
culture as here advocated by Schiller is dangerous and ob- 
structive to morality, that he who enters upon it with his 
whole soul receives an impulse to antinomianism, eude- 
monism, epicureanism, to quietism, effeminacy, moral 
sloth, and self-indulgence, of which there are always only 
too many examples among theatre-goers, and novel-readers 
of both sexes, especially among the rich who again and 
again make tours to see works of art, picture-galleries, and 
the beauties of nature, people whose morality, instead of 
being supported by the aesthetic, goes to ruin under a 
thousand aesthetic temptations, and who, not to speak 
of much else, manifestly become unfit for true religious 
life. 

The question narrows itself to this : Can aesthetic edu- 
cation bring that to pass which according to the gospel, 
comes to pass only through regeneration by God's Spirit 
and the redemption of Jesus Christ ? For this really is 
what is meant by this aesthetic education, that the theatre 



LIFE UNDER THE LAW, 



141 



as a moral institution very properly may supplant the 
Church. 

A fundamental error in the whole ethics of Schiller is, 
that the opposition in the human heart which is to be re- 
conciled is none other than the opposition between reason 
and sense. But this is altogether a too optimistic view of 
the human nature, a view which does not even agree with 
the experience of the natural mind. We have not merely 
to fight with flesh and blood, but with an invisible enemy. 
For behind our sensual impulses there stands our egoistic 
will as the proper enemy that we must fight. And this 
radical evil in man cannot be expelled by any aesthetic 
education and refinement of taste. And, furthermore, let 
us not forget that mere knowledge is never able to redeem 
us from the egoistic will. 

We here again refer to Kant, who on this point forms a 
contrast to Schiller. When Kant treats of the radical evil 
in human nature, he makes the remarkable statement, that 
if a good will is to appear in us, this cannot happen through 
a partial improvement, not through any reform, but only 
through a revolution, a total overturn within us, that is to 
be compared to a new creation. When Kant uttered these 
words, he stood immediately before the door of Christian- 
ity, without however knocking, or entering, or yet making 
any further application of the acknowledgment. The true 
consequence of Kant's doctrine is grace, and the prayer, 
" Create in me a clean heart, O God." 

The fundamental error in Schiller's ethics is the assump- 
tion that an autonomic freedom, a freedom without divine 



142 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



authority and without divine grace, can really attain to 
right unity with itself. Although he is penetrated by a 
deep ethical enthusiasm, and may very properly be desig- 
nated as the poet of freedom and emancipation, still if we 
inquire whether in his heart he found peace and reconcili- 
ation, we receive no satisfying answer. We hear him la- 
ment that the ideals that were his companions when he 
entered the way of life, faithlessly left him the farther he 
advanced on the way, and that the suns which at first gave 
him light went out one after the other. And if he has to 
say what then is left, he names only friendship, and quiet, 
indefatigable work ("occupation, that never wearies"). 
Now friendship and industry are undoubtedly noble bless- 
ings ; but if the whole outcome of life is to be limited to 
these, we must pronounce this a miserable result. Here 
also, as with Goethe* the last thing is resignation. 

The Middle-way Morality. — The moral life under the 
law, in its previously considered form, incessantly empha- 
sizes the ideal, but ends with painful resignation, because 
the ideal is not to be realized. In opposition to this there 
is another direction of the moral life which before all lays 
emphasis on reality and the practically attainable, which 
may be designated as the morality of practical world-cul- 
ture. From this point of view one takes the world just as 
it is, does not permit himself to indulge in ideal flights of 
mind, or to sink into brooding on the unconditional com- 
mand of duty, but instead of this, holds to the special du- 
ties which daily life brings with it, and makes it the chief 
problem of his life to preserve "the golden middle-way 
between the extremes." 



LIFE UNDER THE LAW, 



143 



This morality we may also include under philosophical 
righteousness, so far as it also rests upon a process of rea- 
soning, and is not limited to single parts of moral conduct, 
but extends to the whole life. Its consistent followers pass 
through an entire long earthly existence without ever rais- 
ing their glance to the ideal. 

But men who order their whole life according to their 
moderate morality will never arrive at any true self-knowl- 
edge ; their knowledge is confined to what is externally 
decent and respectable, and they never proceed further 
than the outmost periphery of morality. 



SECTION III. 

THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF THE PHARISEES AND SCRIBES. 

The Advantage of Pharisaism. — We now enter into an 
entirely different sphere, which is not to be viewed as a 
continuation or higher development of philosophical right- 
eousness, but constitutes a contrast to it, even as Israel is 
not a higher development of heathenism, but forms a con- 
trast to it, and must be understood from its own presuppo- 
sitions. The great advantage of Pharisaism lies in this, 
that it stands on the ground of revealed religion, where 
the law is acknowledged as the law of God, and sin as dis- 
obedience to God. 

Its Weakness. — The defect of this righteousness of the 
Scribes and Pharisees was its superficiality, its external 
work-system, its imperfect understanding of the proper 



144 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



spirit of the law, and along with this also the lack of the 
consciousness that the disposition of man, the human heart, 
needs a renovation, a thorough transformation. 

They left undone the weightier matters of the law. — We 
may briefly designate their standpoint in the words of the 
Lord : " Ye tithe mint and anise and cummin, and have 
left undone the weightier matters of the law, judgment, and 
mercy, and faith" (Matt. 23: 23). The Lord shows 
them that they do not understand the spirit of the law, 
but that they deny it in three respects. (1) They do 
not make the right application of the law to themselves 
{Judgment): "And why even of yourselves judge ye 
not what is right?" (Luke 12: 57). (2) They do not 
apply it in relation to their neighbors, for they lack mercy, 
love to the unhappy, the suffering, the poor. (3) They do 
not apply it in relation to God (faith). This is illustrated 
in the parable of the Pharisee and Publican (Luke 18 : 9-14). 
The Pharisee, who thanked God that he was not like other 
men, neglected judgment, forgot to prove and judge himself ; 
he neglected mercy, in judging publicans and sinners unmer- 
cifully ; he neglected faith, for however dogmatically cor- 
rect his might be, yet there were wanting the right pious 
motives in his heart. " He believed rightly, but was not a 
right believer." 

This tendency still repeats itself in the Church of Christ. 
— This righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees repeats 
itself whenever an external ecclesiasticism takes the place 
of the true internal righteousness. Catholicism is ex- 
tremely rich in examples of this tendency. But Protestant 



LIFE UNDER THE LAW. 



*45 



ism also knows this kind of righteousness, namely, when 
one sets his trust upon the ecclesiastical confession of faith, 
or upon a system of doctrines, instead of the living God 
and Saviour ; when one depends upon the possession of the 
true doctrine of the order of salvation, instead of living in 
this order ; when one sets the means of grace in the place 
of saving grace itself. 

However great the difference between philosophic and 
Pharisaic righteousness, one thing is common to them 
both : self -righteousness. However different the presup- 
positions from which they set out, yet they both would at- 
tain personal perfection through their own power, their own 
efforts, their own performances. They are both penetrated 
with self-respect, live in self-exaltation and self-glorifica- 
tion. What they both lack is the standpoint of the pub- 
lican. 



SECTION IV. 

THE SEEKERS. 

The Seekers and Non- Finders. — There is still, however, 
a class of men to be spoken of, who can find satisfaction 
in none of the various kinds of righteousness already de- 
scribed, but are also alienated from Christianity, and are 
seeking a standpoint on which they would find rest. They 
approach Christianity, but are repelled by "the positive," 
"the historical," which they maintain is irreconcilable 
with their culture ; and if they would hold to the ideas of 
natural religion, God, providence, and immortality, they 
11 



146 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



feel again that they lack life and fulness. With Jacobi, 
they complain that they are Christians in heart, but heathen 
in head. They are of those who are "ever learning, and 
never able to come to the knowledge of the truth " (2 Tim. 
3:7). It never comes in their case to a real yielding to 
God ; they constantly prefer their own wisdom to the rev- 
elation given to us, and always also hold fast their own 
righteousness, while lamenting that, in consequence of 
their culture, they are unable to obey the invitation of the 
grace of God. When they assert that they are Christians 
with the heart, but not with the head, they must be an- 
swered that they are mistaken as to their being Christians 
at heart, — for to be a Christian with the heart requires a 
fundamental consciousness of sin and guilt, it requires an 
open heart* for the requirements of God's holiness, a heart 
willing to be judged by God's law. But they have a secret 
antipathy to God's holiness. They want God only as love 
and omnipotence, but his holiness is obscured to them, 
and with this also the consciousness of their sin. If these 
seekers are really to attain what they are longing for, they 
must first come to the standpoint of the publican. 

There are others who content themselves with natural 
religion, mixed, it is true, with many Christian elements. 
These take the position that religion is a prop for their 
morality, a. help amid the fatalities of life. The principal 
thing is to be performed by their own efforts. Religion 
has not yet become a fountain of grace to them, from which 
an entirely new life is to spring. They know nothing as 
yet of the entire helplessness in which a man becomes aware 



LIFE UNDER THE LAW. 



147 



of his sinful condition, of his guilt, and so of his desert of 
punishment before God, they know nothing of his longing 
and need of a real forgiveness of sins, and of the need of an 
entirely new beginning for his life. 



CHAPTER III. 

SIN. 



SECTION I. 

MANIFESTATIONS OF SIN. 

Immorality and Sin. — The moral life under the law which 
we have hitherto considered has its opposite in the immoral 
life under the law. But the one, like the other, is included 
under sin. For sin is not only the immoral, — its inmost 
essence is the irreligious, is unbelief, which is also found 
where life in the worldly sphere is relatively moral. As 
there exists an inner connection between the moral and 
the religious, so also between the immoral and the irrelig- 
ious. Irreligiousness consistently carried out must land in 
immorality, and immorality at length leads to irreligious- 
ness, to enmity to religion. 

The chief forms of sin against which each one who fol- 
lows after righteousness must contend, as we have already 
seen, are the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the 
vain-glory of life (i John 2 : 16) ; in other words sensual- 
ity, covetousness, and pride. Against these sins the nobler 
in the heathen world have already fought. But Christian- 
ity reveals to us in the background of this conflict the de- 
moniac powers and the devil, as the enemy of God and 

(148) 



SIN. 



149 



man (Eph. 6 : 12), and shows that the fight that man has 
to combat in this world is interwoven with a conflict in 
the higher world of spirits. And although in this conflict 
there is offered to man a superhuman help, the grace of 
God in Christ, yet here again the great danger threatens 
of man repelling this grace. And hereby there is formed 
a new kind, an entirely new circle of sins, unknown to the 
old heathenism. 

Temptation and Passion. — James, in his Epistle, pro- 
foundly depicts the development of sin in the single per- 
sonal human life : " Let no man say when he is tempted, 
I am tempted of God ; for God cannot be tempted with 
evil, and he himself tempteth no man ; but each man is 
tempted, when he is drawn away by his own lust, and en- 
ticed. Then the lust, when it hath conceived, beareth sin ; 
and the sin, when it is full grown, bringeth forth death " 
(1 : 13-15). God tempts no man to sin, although God proves 
man, to confirm him in good. Man is tempted to sin by 
his own lust, which does not exclude the presence of an 
external tempter. Lust is egoistic desire under the incite- 
ment of impulse. But man can combat this lust, or by the 
free choice of his will yield himself to it. Therefore the 
Apostle says : " When lust hath conceived, it beareth sin." 

When lust awakes there is formed a fancy picture which 
presents itself to lust with a mighty incitement and allure- 
ment, be it a picture of sensuality, or of honor and worldly 
greatness, of wealth, or a fancy picture of far smaller reali- 
ties, but which has a mighty attraction just for this man's 
lust. At first this picture presents itself to the lust of man 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



only in the mirror of possibility, but with the colors of 
reality, and works like magic by promising pure happi- 
ness and joy. If man is able to put to flight this fancy 
picture, he conquers in the temptation, and the voice of 
truth is again distinctly heard within. But in the times of 
temptation, this fancy picture, instead of being expelled, is 
generally retained ; one stands before it, finds pleasure in 
the quiet contemplation of it ; but in this secret delighting, 
this tarrying to view the forbidden fruit, lies the great 
danger, which is usually perceived all too late. For by 
such inner occupation with this thing, one comes more and 
more under the power of the fancy. Lust gains inner strength, 
and increases to passion. This dangerous delighting may 
be called lingering lust, lingering, namely, in beholding 
forbidden fruit. We already have a picture and example 
in the history of the Fall, in Eve, who, instead of saying 
to the tempter, "Depart from me, Satan !" continued to 
view the tree, that "it was good for food " (lust of the 
flesh), " and that it was a delight to the eyes " (lust of the 
eyes), "and that it was desirable to look upon to make 
one wise " (the pride of life). Her delight, her lust in 
beholding, ended accordingly with the sinful action, when 
she took of the fruit and ate. 

Of every temptation it holds true that there is danger in 
any delay, in any tarrying. In temptation the moment has 
an infinite import ; with each moment passion rises, and 
when lust increases to passion, "lust conceives," in that 
it becomes the fertilizing, impelling and compelling motive 
for the choosing and deciding will. Then Sin is born. 



SIN. 



With the inner decision sin is already born, for the man 
has now made his choice. Yet sin is finished only when 
by means of execution it becomes an action. And when 
the sinful action is finished, it brings forth death, — inner 
and outer misery, — a witness of the deceitfulness of sin 
(Heb. 3 : 13; Eph. 4: 22) which allured the man, prom- 
ising happiness from that which led to so sad an issue. 

Habit and Vice. — By repetition the individual gains 
readiness in sinning, and sin becomes habit, by which the 
organs of the soul as well as of the body become instru- 
ments of unrighteousness (Rom. 6 : 13, 19). But the ani- 
mating principle in habit is passion, which is now no more 
acute but has become chronic, and can be designated as 
desire (desire of honor, dominion, wealth, gratification of 
the senses). By means of habit, passion builds its body, 
and exercises as well the spiritual as the bodily organs for 
the service of sin ; and while the organs gain a greater readi- 
ness in committing sin, they again set passion in motion by 
their natural impulse. An action and reaction takes place, 
and the power and hold of sin is increased. " For out of 
the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, 
fornications, thefts, false witness, railings; these are the 
things which defile the man ; but to eat with unwashen 
hands defileth not the man" (Matt. 15;. 19, 20). Com- 
pare also Rom. 6 : 19. 

The union of habit and passion, when a man becomes 
the servant and slave of a particular sin, may be called 
vice. 

Ramifications of Sin. — Among the vices there exists a 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



mutual connection, and one easily leads to another. The 
three chief directions of sin (i John 2 : 16) are closely re- 
lated, and have a power of attraction for one another. They 
mutually entwine into each other, like twigs of the same 
tree (selfishness), and grow out of each other. Pride, even 
the most intellectual and spiritual, is not far from a fall 
into sensuality \ and if sensuality must needs defend itself 
against the accusation of the conscience, it seeks in pride 
to set itself above the law. Covetousness and cupidity are 
akin to both. The common element, in which all the three 
chief tendencies of sin (sensuality, covetousness, pride) 
find their growth and increase, is illusion and falsehood or 
the lie. 

Each of these chief tendencies has again its inner ramifi- 
cations. Pride is inseparable from despising man. With 
this is conjoined envy and distrust. And if pride meets 
with opposition, it proceeds to passionate violence, anger, 
and hate. In relation to religion, pride appears as oppo- 
sition to the truth, and self-exaltation and self- idolatry may 
here gradually pass over into mockery, scorn, and hate of 
what is holy. 

But above all, it must be insisted that the lie proceeds 
from pride, and that it permeates the whole world of sin, 
for there is no sin without an ingredient of conscious or 
unconscious lie and illusion. Next to the lie in the relig- 
ious sphere, we name, as the strongest utterances of the lie 
in the worldly sphere, false witness against one's neighbor, 
defamation, faithlessness and deceit, treachery, dissimula- 
tion and hypocrisy. 



SIN. 



153 



The lust of the flesh (gluttony, drunkenness, sensuality) 
gives birth to all manner of evil, such as speaking unad- 
visedly, anger, quarreling, striking, revenge, murder. 
Fleshly lust easily combines with unfaithfulness in steward- 
ship, with sloth and carelessness, with dishonesty, which is 
often a condition of procuring the means for the satisfac- 
tion of the lusts. A usual feature in those who give them- 
selves to fleshly lusts, and to an undue care of the body, is 
effe?ninacy, which may be developed to a refined pleasure- 
seeking in the most various directions. 

The lust of the eyes, when it appears under the forms of 
covetousness, desire of gain, the passion to grow rich, eas- 
ily unites with hardness of heart and mercilessness, and 
breeds usury, falsity, fraud, robbery. The unfaithful steward 
in the Gospel, who besides his unrighteousness appears to 
have been fond of pleasure and effeminate, — who felt him- 
self unfit to dig, and was ashamed to claim the help of 
strangers, — and who lets the debtors of his lord rewrite 
their bills, is a type of cunning cheating combined with 
greed of gain, which recurs down to our own days. 

One and the same vice may be developed from entirely 
different starting-points. Envy, for example, may be de- 
veloped from pride or from covetousness, from love or be- 
ing in love. Lying may proceed from pride, and the 
source of the lie at the creation was pride ye shall be as 
God," Gen. 3: 5); but in daily life the lie may also 
be born of sensual lust or greed of gain, as a means to trie 
end. The same holds true of other derived vices. 

Differences in Sin.— Sins are distinguished from each 



154 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



otller, not only by the difference of the objects to which 
the lust is directed, not only by the different instruments 
by the help of which they are practised, be they those of 
the thought and mind, or of the eye, tongue, or 
hand, not only by the different form in which the 
law is injured, according as they are transgressions or 
omissions, but also by the different degrees in the energy 
of the sinful will. The degree designates the inner strength 
of the good as well as of the bad will ; and is measured by 
the hindrances, the resistance that must be overcome. The 
good will must overcome the temptations to evil ; the evil 
and bad will must overcome the hindrances that conscience, 
in connection with external relations, places in its way. 

There have been those who have denied the difference 
of sins, who have maintained that he who steals a penny 
and he who kills his mother are both in equal measure 
guilty. It is true that he who is only a foot deep under 
water drowns just as much as he who is five hundred feet 
deep, it is true that if one is only one mile or a hundred 
miles distant from a city, that in both cases he is outside 
the city, while the point is to be inside — but it does not 
follow that in the first case both had the same chances of 
being rescued from drowning, or that in the second case 
both were equally distant from the same place. 

The Holy Scripture itself lays stress upon this difference 
between sins. On the one hand, he who commits one sin 
has thereby essentially committed them all " For whoso- 
ever shall keep the whole law, and yet stumble in one point 
he is become guilty of all " (James 2 : 10). The Apostle 



SIM 



155 



looks into the essence of sin, and from thence contemplates 
all sins and all sinners as alike. By each sin we insult not 
only the majesty of the law, but of God the holy Lawgiver, 
by setting our will in the place of his. On the other 
hand, in many passages, the Holy Scripture empha 
sizes the difference of degree in sins. Christ says to 
Pilate, "He that delivered me unto thee hath greater 
sin " (John 19 : 11), and again he says, " It shall be more 
tolerable for the land of Sodom in the day of judgment, 
than for thee " (Matt. 11 : 24). They are mentioned who 
are " not far from the kingdom of God " (Matt. 12 : 34), 
those who are far off and those who are nigh (Eph. 2 ; 17; 
Acts 2 : 39) ; whence it clearly appears that the Lord and 
his Apostles do not teach that it is indifferent whether one 
be one mile distant from the city or a hundred. 

The difference of degree between sins is expressed in the 
distinction between sins of ignorance (1 Tim. 1 : 13) and 
deliberate sins (1 Tim. 4: 2), between sins of weakness 
(like Peter's denial) and sins of wickedness (like Judas, 
and the mockers of 2 Pet. 3 : 3), between outcrying sins 
(James 5 : 4), human, bestial, and devilish sins. Finally, a 
distinction can also be made between the sins that can be 
forgiven, and the unpardonable sin, the sin unto death 
(1 John 5 : 16 ; Mark 3 : 29). 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



SECTION II. 

STATES OF THE LIFE OF SIN. 

Steps of development in the Life of Sin. — The single sin 
can only be rightly estimated when we observe how it 
emerges and is connected with the entire degree of devel- 
opment of the sinful will. For when the man yields him- 
self to sin, there inevitably follows a reaction from the side 
of the good. Under the continued struggle with the power 
of God, whose highest manifestation within the Christian 
world is God's revealed law and gospel, sin grows not 
merely in its degree or intensity, but it advances to an- 
other, a higher step. 

The man at first gives himself to sin in a single, special 
way of manifestation ; his will is bound in a single direc- 
tion, and he has some bosom sin, without his whole soul 
being bound by it. But the farther the man proceeds in 
self-deception and lying, the more does sin assume a con- 
scious control of the man, so that it embraces more and 
more the whole man, and extends its impurity over all de- 
partments of the soul's life. As different steps and states 
of ^corruption, we may mention security, self-conscious 
bondage, self-deception, hypocrisy, and obduracy. 

The State of Security. — Security, as commonly under- 
stood, is the state in which one fears no danger, where one 
is cheerful and hopes for the best. We trust in ourselves, 
and do not suspect that we have within us an enemy who 
threatens us with spiritual death. We do not see through 
the deceitfulness of sin, which mirrors before us an enjoy- 
ment in which we are to find mere happiness. 



SIN. 



157 



In a m^re special sense, security in a sinful state consists 
in this, that a man in committing a sin, and in beginning 
to fall a prey to passion, makes light of it, and in his levity 
does not consider the external nor the internal conse- 
quences for the development of his own character. He 
may indeed become aware of the reaction of the law and 
of the conscience, he may even form the purpose to 
desist from certain particular sins, — but as soon as the 
temptation recurs, he discovers, with some astonishment, 
that the previous fall is repeated. However, that does not 
much affect him ; for, of course, he will have a care in the 
future. He has his free will, and can always enter on a 
better way. But, contrary to all expectation, he finds that 
he is involved in the bondage of sin, bound by a fetter 
that he cannot shake off, and discovers that it is quite 
otherwise with the freedom of the will than he had 
thought. 

With most men the process, by which they become 
aware of the deplorable state in which they are, is gradual. 
With some, however, a specially strong temptation brings 
them suddenly to a deep fall, which often opens to them a 
view of their danger, — as with the disciple Peter, who de- 
nied the Lord shortly after he had thought himself in the 
completest security. 

In very many cases, the surroundings of the man partici- 
pate in his transition into the bondage of sin. Parents and 
teachers allow the young to appropriate and assimilate what 
is fitted to feed the sensual impulses, and carelessly en- 
deavor to develop in them ambition and rivalry as the 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



chief motives of life, thus fostering the germs of pride la- 
tent in every human heart. Carelessly parents develop in 
their children respect for the earthly mammon, and im- 
press upon them by example and their views of life, the 
idea that wealth and social position is the great aim of 
life. 

Self-Co7iscions Bondage. — When any one has become 
conscious that he is in the state of bondage, the internal 
conflicts begin. He would free himself from the state, 
with which his conscience reproaches him. But where sin 
fully carries out its course of development, he is more and 
more fettered by passion, which after each gratification 
again desires a new one, and is never satisfied. Ever anew 
purposes are formed, and ever anew their execution fails in 
the vain struggle. By each defeat the power of sin grows 
stronger, whether the man is ruled by a sensual passion, or 
carried away by avarice, pride, anger, or ambition. As 
the hope of overcoming the power of sin more and more 
fails, the purposes of amendment become weaker, and at 
last, when every hope is extinct, the man allows himself to 
be carried along the stream of destruction. 

Now, it is not indeed the case in all individuals, that the 
state of bondage leads to this extremity, to this abyss. But 
one thing is common to all who are in this state. That levity 
which belongs to the state of security has been changed in 
them all to a secret dejection. And this secret dejection 
does not proceed, as many think, from the state of the body, 
though this may contribute to it, but from indwelling sin. 

The more that sin and corruption grow, and the man be- 



SIN 



159 



comes fully conscious of it, the more does dejection grow 
also, and change at last into despair, which is a state of en- 
tire hopelessness. The deepest despair is that in which a 
man gives up hope, not merely for this or that which he 
called his own, but for himself "as a moral being. Yet there 
is here one sustaining and saving power, namely, faith ir* 
God. Despair may and should become the transition to 
salvation, if the man only desponds and despairs of him- 
self and his own power, but does not give up his God. 

Meanwhile there is still, apart from conversion and faith, 
another way by which the man may attempt to escape from 
the oppressive state of bondage, and try to free himself 
from the reproaches of the law and the conscience. This 
'way is self-deception. 

Self- Deception. — Through self deception man may imagine 
that he can avoid the dangers of despair as well as the pains 
of conversion. Sin may begin to philosophize, and seek 
to form for itself a morality of sin. The sinful will may 
take the understanding into its service, and may seek to 
make sin appear in a new and different light, putting it in 
the place of duty and of conscience. Many men spend 
their whole life in trying to bring about agreements be- 
tween sin and conscience, whereby the sting of conscience 
is more and more blunted. 

Scepticism — The fundamental philosophical beginning 
to the morality of sin is scepticism. By scepticism we here 
mean the doubt by which a man seeks to escape from the 
truth, because he would gain a security against conscience 
and against the fulfilment of duty. He finds a solace in 



i6o 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



the thought that some men question whether there is a su- 
pernatural world, and that others deny that there is a moral 
order of the world, — he is consoled to find that some think 
that it is by no means sure that the soul is immortal, or that 
there is a living, personal God. And he who wants to de- 
ceive himself by this mode of thought, will find abundant 
help in our days, for much of modern literature is tainted 
with scepticism and infidelity. 

After the individual, which we have here in view, has 
ranged about for a time on the " dry heath " of scepticism, 
his scepticism at last passes over into a body of definite 
dogmas which deny the moral order of the world. The 
invention and adoption of erroneous doctrines in the inter- 
est of sin the Holy Scripture designates as deception, as an 
error, a wandering that is founded in the will of man, 
which deliberately puts phantasms in the place of truth. 
The Apostle warns against this self-deception when he says 
to people who denied a moral order of the world: "Be 
not deceived ; God is not mocked ; for whatsoever a man 
soweth, that shall he also reap " (Gal. 6 : 7). Of this the 
Apostle John speaks when he says: "If we say that we 
have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in 
us" (1 John 1 : 8). Nay, Paul says that God, in punish- 
ment for the sins of men, "sends them a working of error, 
that they should believe a lie" (2 Thess. 2: n). The 
apostle calls this conviction which men have, " believing a 
lie," and the farther they remove themselves from the 
truth of God's word, the stronger their security grows from 
day to day. Their eyes become dull for the supernatural, 



SIN. 



161 



and their ears deaf for the voices of the spirit. The world 
is alone real to them, and they most decidedly deny that 
there is any other beyond it. The word of the Lord in 
Matt. 6: 23 is applicable to them: " If thine eye be evil, 
thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the 
light that is in thee be darkness, how great is the dark- 
ness !" 

Indifference to Religion. — Where indifference has become 
prevalent in an age, or has become widespread, scepticism 
has always preceded it, The gospel history puts before 
our eyes a type of indifferentism in Pilate, with his ques- 
tion, "What is truth?" (John 18: 38). We have an- 
other type in the rich man mentioned in the Gospel of Luke 
(16: 19), who has taken no notice of "Moses and the 
prophets," but regards them as antiquated. The testimony 
of the Scripture for the supernatural world, for the future 
judgment, and a coming reckoning, he regards as some- 
thing for which "sufficient proof is lacking," and is tran- 
scended by all that was then called enlightenment and ed- 
ucation, progress of culture, and the modern view of the 
world. Standing on such a basis, he lived then, — and in 
this he has become a type of countless numbers in our age, 
— every day splendidly and in happiness, till he died and 
was buried. 

A third type is given us in the discourses of the Lord on 
the Last Days, when it shall be as in the days of Noah 
(Matt. 24: 37-39; Luke 17: 26-30). The form of sin- 
fulness here manifestly emphasized by the Lord is indiffer- 
entism, indifference to higher and holy things, combined 
12 



l62 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



with devotion to objects of earthly culture and enjoyment. 
"Conformed to this world " (Rom. 12: 2), they live on 
in full security, till suddenly judgment breaks in upon 
them. Even so in our own times great multitudes live in 
the self-deception that they need not regard the testimony 
of Christ and the Apostles, and that they are sufficiently 
guaranteed by the splendid progress of culture and civili- 
zation, against God and the world of spirit, and the nearer 
and nearer approaching judgment. 

Hypocrisy. — The deeper a man enters into the morality 
of sin, the more does he grow into the kingdom of false- 
hood. A new and wider step in this kingdom is hypocrisy, 
wherein a man is entangled not only in self-deception tnd 
its illusions, but also deliberately lies and masks himself to 
others, in order to deceive them. The hypocrite uses the 
good and holy as mere masks, in order under this disguise 
to accomplish Ils objects. Hypocrisy may be found in all 
the relations of life, — in the intercourse of love between 
man and woman; in the intercourse between man and 
man, wjien friendship is feigned ; in the political sphere ; 
in art and science, when a pure unselfish love to the higher 
idea is pretended, while yet the applause of the multitude is 
alone pursued ; in the religious sphere, when the mask of 
the saint is taken to attain worldly advantages, or the satis- 
faction of the lusts, or in order "to be seen of men" 
(Matt. 6: 5, 16). 

Hypocrisy leads down into the depths of wickedness; 
it forms a chief element of the demoniac state. There is 
no completely bad character that is not likewise a hypo- 



SIN. 



163 



crite, apart from what in the kingdom of evil he may other- 
wise represent. Hypocrisy hides in its bosom a deep cow- 
ardice, which is characteristic of the essence of evil. Evil 
does not dare to be itself, to confess itself to itself, but 
must walk in the stolen clothes of goodness, and hereby 
pays an involuntary acknowledgment to goodness. On the 
other hand, there lurks in hypocrisy a monstrous pride, a 
most outrageous audacity, and it finally completely hardens 
the character. 

Hardness of Heart. — Obduracy, which may already par- 
tially take place in the preceding stages, is the state in 
which receptivity for the good is extinguished, in which 
one, void of all moral feeling (Eph. 4: 19), is dead to 
every higher and nobler care, and so in a moral sense is 
dead, having become like a corpse. Yet this is only the passive 
side of hardness of heart. The active side is the egoistic 
self-assertion, which is brought to its highest point when, 
with entire insensibility for the good, for all that is higher, 
egoism seeks only its own advantage and aims to make evil 
dominant, and to destroy good and the kingdom of the 
good. The utmost development and the last form of ego- 
ism is devilish. For the devil would, in the lie of pride, 
make himself God ; but can only do this by raging in his 
hatred against the one true God, in order to destroy his 
kingdom and dominion. 

Experience abundantly shows us the presence of the 
devilish principle among men, shows us such manifestations 
of wickedness, which unmistakably testify of a connection 
with the demoniac kingdom. And the Apostle gives us 



164 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



clear hints that the opposition between good and evil has 
not yet ripened, but that the time shall come when "the 
man of sin will be revealed, he that opposeth and exalteth 
himself against all that is called God or that is worshipped, 
so that he sitteth in the temple of God, setting himself 
forth as God " (2 Thess. 2 : 3, 4). 

Hatred of Good. — But hatred and enmity against good 
is at bottom hatred of the Good One. For, like love, hatred 
ever applies itself to persons. Hatred of God is combined, 
however, with hatred of men, especially of those who be- 
lieve on God and would serve him, and who have declared 
war with unbelief. 

Hatred of Christ. — Above all, we must direct attention 
to the hatred of Christ, that is, to that form of enmity to 
God which is directed against the central point of the rev- 
elation of God's love, and which we therefore may call the 
central enmity to God. Christ, the Son of God, who 
came into the world with this testimony, "He that hath 
seen me hath seen the Father" (John 14: 9), stands as 
the living witness of the holiness and love of God, of the 
God-consciousness, of the reality of sin and grace. The 
great fact of the appearance of Christ is the practical proof 
of the being and government of the living God among us 
men, and speaks more loudly and powerfully than all rea- 
sonings. If one, then, would get rid of God, one must first 
of all get rid of Christ. He is the one with whom the 
worldly mind especially takes offence. 

The hatred of Christ has, however, this peculiarity, that ' 
it does not necessarily presuppose a general enmity to God 



SIN. 



and a vicious life, but that it may also be developed from a 
certain standpoint of human virtue and righteousness. 
Saul hated Christ, and persecuted the Christians, and yet 
with all this was still leading a righteous life according to 
the law. Hatred of Christ is always developed from the 
offence that is taken at the appearance of Christ. But that 
offence springs from man's natural heart, and does not by 
any means merely occur in such as are " sinners before oth- 
ers," but also in such as would obtain repose of soul by 
their own virtue and righteousness. And herein consists 
the danger of the offence, that by it in itself, a man may by 
a few steps fall into regions of evil closely connected with 
the demoniac kingdom ; nay, may fall into a sin which, if 
consistently carried through, must at last end as the sin 
for which there is no forgiveness. In this sense it may 
be said to be dangerous for a man to come into contact 
with Christ, — if he does not accept him, but rejects him. 
For when we once come into contact with Christ, he is set 
" for our fall " or " for our rising up " (Luke 2 : 34), and 
only the one question avails, whether one will accept the 
forgiveness of sins which all need, or whether he will de- 
spise it, and thereby place himself in a relation of direct 
enmity to God, and contract a guilt that is the heavier the 
more it is developed into conscious hatred, and which leads 
to scorn and mockery of divine grace. Sooner or later a 
turning-point must occur in every man's life, when he is 
placed face to face with Christ, when he must make his 
.choice. 

The human heart in its natural, unconverted state, takes 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS, 



offense at the appearance of Christ ; at the testimony which 
he bears of himself, and that which his disciples bear to 
him j at the requirements that he makes of men with refer- 
ence to their conversion, faith, and holiness. And al- 
though the understanding is offended at the gospel, yet it 
is essentially the will to which it is offensive. It is human 
pride that feels itself humbled by the appearance and en- 
tire revelation of Christ, and will not have this humiliation. 
The longer the pride of man resists the testimony of the 
gracious gospel, the more does the offense, that the nat- 
ural man has taken, pass over into hatred One becomes 
more and more conscious of this, that if he is the truth, 
then there is an end of all our wisdom, and we are walking 
in ways from which we must turn. We will not have it 
so ; we will not have this Man to reign over us. All arts 
are sought to invalidate Christ's own testimony and that 
of his disciples, to tear the crown of divinity from his head, 
to deny his sinlessness. In this respect it is interesting in 
our days to hear from the mouths of the enemies of Christ 
the assurance that Christianity has long since ceased to be 
a power in history and in life, that it has long passed away, 
and that there is no longer any one who really and up- 
rightly believes in Christ. But the very anger and passion- 
ate heat, the suppressed bitterness with which these assur- 
ances are again and again brought forward, clearly betrays 
that He who forms the object of their hatred is no dead 
one, but a living one, and that their hatred of Christ is 
inseparably connected with fear of Christ, the secret fear 
of the risen, truly living Christ, present in the midst of 
us. 




SIN 167 

Sin against the Holy Spirit. — Where hatred of Christ is 
developed to its utmost point, it becomes the sin against 
the Holy Spirit. The Pharisees had been witnesses of one 
of the miracles of the Lord, and in their hatred they accuse 
the Holy One, whom God had sent into the world, of 
standing in league with the devil. Then Christ spoke the 
solemn, weighty words : " Every sin and blasphemy shall 
be forgiven unto men ; but the blasphemy against the Spirit 
shall not be forgiven. And whosoever shall speak a word 
against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him • but who- 
soever shall speak against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be 
forgiven him, neither in this world, nor in that which is to 
come" (Matt. 12: 31, 32). 

We are not to understand this utterance of the Lord as 
if the sin against the Holy Spirit were something in its es- 
sence entirely different from the sin against Christ. The 
sin against the Holy Spirit is always sin against Christ also ; 
but the difference consists in this, that there is a hatred, 
an enmity against Christ, which is more or less without the 
right knowledge of Christ, an enmity which has such an 
element of ignorance that Christ's words may be applied, 
" Father, forgive them ; for they know not what they do " 
(Luke 23 : 34), and they are not conscious in what degree, 
and how frightfully they sin. Such hatred of Christ, and 
the mockery or blasphemy springing from it, our Saviour 
evidently has in view, when he says, "Whosoever shall 
speak a word against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven 
him," — of course on condition of repentance and faith, 
of true conversion. Where, however, the Spirit has so 



1 68 



« 

CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



glorified Christ that his truth and righteousness have been 
made manifest to the heart of man, who yet, internally re- 
sisting, still continues to mock and blaspheme, — this is the 
sin against the Holy Spirit. 

This sin. can only be committed by men who have come 
into such a relation to Christ, as to be internally touched 
by the operations of the Spirit, who have been impressed 
with the truth and holiness of Christ, who have obtained a 
knowledge of Christ, but who have wantonly opposed the 
truth, and rejected the grace so freely offered to them. 
It is committed by those who have entered into a relation 
of discipleship to Christ, which, however, is not yet suffi- 
ciently confirmed to exclude the possibility of falling away. 
Such men the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews has in 
view in 6 : 4-6 ; 10 : 26. 

One cannot then imagine the sin against the Holy Spirit 
without a falling away from Christ, whether the man was 
already an actual disciple, or had simply entered upon a 
preparatory stage of awakening and enlightenment. But 
every fall from Christ is not a sin against the Holy Spirit. 
Because any one accuses himself of having committed this 
sin, it by no means follows that he has committed it. It 
often recurs in the history of temptations, that men accuse 
themselves of this sin, while the sincere pain, the dread of 
sin, the eager longing for God's forgiving grace, which 
they express, testify that they have not committed it. 
This sin is not committed by a man, in levity and self-for- 
getfulness, or by any one, from weakness, denying his 
Lord. It consists rather in an internal perversion in the 



SIN. 



169 



attitude of the heart to God and the truth, an inner defi- 
ance, a conscious yielding to the spirit of lies, not merely 
a partial, but so central a yielding as to involve a perma- 
nent enmity to God, and with this a permanent insuscepti- 
bility for the forgiveness of sins. So long as truth and up- 
rightness are still in a man's heart, so long as , he not only 
trembles before the holy and almighty God whom he has 
offended, but also feels in the depth of his heart a longing 
for God's mercy and his sin-forgiving love, he has not 
committed the sin against the Holy Spirit (Ps. 139: 
23, 24). 1 

1 Harless : There are passages of New Testament Scripture, such 
as Heb. 6: 4-6; 10: 26 -• Matt. 12: 31, 32; Mark 3: 28, 29; 
Luke 12; 10; 1 John 5 : 16, which speak of a specific offence, for 
which forgiveness dare not be expected. The passages in the Epistle 
to the Hebrews speak in a most definite way of a fall and apostasy- 
possible only in the case of Christians, and is assumed in the Epistle 
itself as conceivable, or as having actually taken place. It is undoubt- 
edly certain that the writer of the Epistle conceives to himself this fall 
as the falling back of such as have fully experienced the power of the 
gospel. One must first have inwardly trodden under foot the Son of 
God, counted the blood of the new covenant an unholy thing, and 
done despite to the Spirit of grace, before he arrives at this — the 
crucifying of Christ afresh for himself, and making him an object of 
mockery for others. That the apostasy has actually taken place is in- 
dicated by this, and this alone, that for myself I crucify Christ afresh, 
and for such, and such alone, remains the whole fearfulness of the 
warning against irrecoverable lose of grace. The fearful judgment of 
unpardonable apostasy takes place only in the case of those who have 
come to know the power of the gospel in its whole extent by their ex- 
perience. But we must not overlook the fact that the sin against the 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



SECTION III. 

IMPUTATION AND GUILT. 

Sin brings Guilt. — By sin man becomes guilty ; for his 
sin is imputed to him, that is, is brought back to himself 
as the free cause thereof. It lies in the conception of guilt, 
that sin has proceeded from the man's own will, and that 
the man' who by his sin has made a breach in God's holy 
world-order, has thereby become liable to punishment. 
And though this punishment only takes place in a distant 
future, or in the other world, yet it hovers from the first 
like a threatening sword over the head of the guilty, of 
which even the hardened sinner has a dim presentiment. 

On the whole, however, there is far more consciousness 
of sin in men, than consciousness of guilt, because men do 
not distinguish between sin and guilt. Many think that 
the only important thing is to turn one's back on sin, and 
leave it behind one, to look back upon it as a past affair, 

Holy Ghost can be committed by such as do not yet stand in fellow- 
ship with Christ, as well as by disciples of Christ. But even by the 
former not in such a way that they in a certain measure, as it were 
ignorantly, fall into this sin ; but only in such a way that they like the 
Pharisees (Matt. 12: 24; Mark 3 : 22), against better knowledge, 
blaspheme as satanic what belongs to God in Christ, or, as would be 
possible in the case of disciples of Christ, in such a way that they 
against the knowledge of Christ wrought in them by the Hholy Ghost, 
fall into denial and blasphemy of the Lord. With the former it is ob- 
duracy, and indeed obduracy rising up to the pitch of blasphemy 
against a preparatory knowledge ; with the others obduracy, and in- 
deed obduracy rising up to the pitch of blasphemy against a full knowl- 
edge, wrought by God's Holy Spirit, of what Christ is. 



SIN. 



171 



without thinking further of the guilt, the unsettled debt. 
This, however, is a great error. It is by no means suffi- 
cient for a man to reform, even if he could ; a satisfaction 
must be rendered for the fault and crime of the past. Men 
are much disposed to forgive themselves this guilt, but God 
alone can forgive it, and He forgives it only on the condi- 
tion that he himself has established in the gospel. 

What is imputed to a man is not merely the single sinful 
action, but the whole moral state in which he is. For it is 
by his own will that each one. makes himself what he be- 
comes. It is a not unusual error, that only intended, self- 
conscious sin is regarded as guilt. The circumstance that 
a sin is committed in ignorance may indeed mitigate the 
judgment upon it. But if ignorance ought to set me free 
from all imputation, the obligation of the law for me must 
depend merely on my accidental and changing knowledge 
of the law. But the law is the law of my being, whether I 
know of it in particular cases or not, and each of my voli- 
tions is subjected to its judgment. Through ignorance and 
unconsciousness a thing may indeed appear as innocent, 
but if unconscious sin comes to light, it is not only recog- 
nized as sin, but also imputed. And in the ignorance it- 
self, when viewed in connection with the character, there is 
also guiltiness, a neglect, a not hearing of the voice of con- 
science. It is Jesuitical to define sin as' a voluntary, con- 
scious transgression of God's law, and to maintain that 
the less consciousness of sin a man has, the less imputation 
of guilt. 

That ignorance does not do away responsibility, is seen 



172 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



in the prayer of the Lord for his enemies : " Father, for- 
give them ; for they know not what they do " (Luke 23 : 
34) ; that is, know not in what degree and how frightfully 
they sin, Ignorance is here indeed regarded as an extenua- 
tion ; but if it could do away the guilt, it would surely be 
superfluous to pray for forgiveness. Christ again also express- 
ly says that he who sins in ignorance shall be punished, al- 
though in a smaller degree than he who consciously sins 
(Luke 12 : 47, 48), and he everywhere recognizes various 
degrees of responsibility (Matt. 11: 22, 24, the men of 
Tyre and Sidon, of Sodom ; Luke 11 : 32, the men of Nin- 
eveh). Only we must ever bear in mind that degrees 
of responsibility by no means exclude, but rather presup- 
pose that sins of ignorance are also imputed. Paul says 
of himself that he persecuted the Church of Christ " ignor- 
antly in unbelief" (1 Tim. 1: 13); nevertheless he ac- 
cuses himself as the chief, the greatest of sinners (1 Tim. 

i i i5)- 

Punishment. — Where there is unforgiven sin and guilt, 
the punitive justice of God must also be revealed. " For 
the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all un- 
godliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold down the 
truth in unrighteousness " (Rom. 1 : 18). In the idea of 
divine holiness is included the idea that God is a jealous 
God (Ex. 34: 14; Deut. 6: 15), and the divine zeal is 
the energy of the divine holiness. This divine jealousy 
manifests itself as divine wrath, for the wrath of God is 
the most intense energy of the holy will of God, the zeal 
of his wounded love. As wrath is a manifestation of di- 



SIN 173 

vine holiness, the occasion of its outburst does not lie in a 
capricious divine humor or natural malignity, but wholly 
in the person of the sinner. If man denies and rejects the 
testimony of the holy God which was given to him, 
justice must be executed upon him in his resistance to 
God's will, and punishment is the reaction of the right- 
eousness and holiness of God against sin, the retribution 
that comes upon the sinner's head, which gives him to reap 
the fruit of his doings (Gal. 6 : 7). It is among the most 
fearful of the revelations of God's righteousness, when sin 
itself becomes the punishment of sin ; when God gives 
men over to their sins (Rom. 1 : 26, 28), blinds their eyes 
and hardens their hearts, lest they should see with their 
eyes and perceive with their heart (John 12 : 14), that 
the measure of their iniquity may become full, and there- 
upon judgment come upon them the more terribly. 

For the infliction of punishment it is necessary that the 
man come to recognize it as a deserved punishment, that is, 
that he acknowledge his sin, and likewise reckon it to him- 
self as guilt. Sooner or later this acknowledgment of sin 
and guilt will come for every man, be it in this life, at the 
hour of death, or at the day of judgment. When such a 
moment occurs, the man stands face to face with God, and 
sees himself as he really is. 



CHAPTER IV. 

CONVERSION AND THE NEW LIFE BEGUN. 



SECTION I. 

REGENERATION. 1 

Regeneration in its Stricter Sense. — How man attains to 
the possession of the blessing of salvation in such a way 
that his life may effectively become faith, love, and hope, 
is the question which we have here to answer. The Scrip- 
tures certify that God begins the work of faith in us, and 
this divine work in us which is the beginning of a new life 
is called a birth from God, and in distinction from the first 
birth of the flesh regeneration. And since nothing which 
we can regard as specifically a movement of a Christian 
life can exist previous to this regeneration, all exposition 
of Christian life, as laid down by ethics, must begin with 
regeneration. 

With respect to the idea of this birth, we must keep 
steadfastly in view that it is referred solely to God. It is 
a being begotten of God (John i : 13 ; 1 John 2: 29 ; 4 : 
7 ; 5 : 1, 18) ; more clearly defined as a being born of the 
Spirit (John 3 : 8). The Word is named as the means 
1 Compare Heirless, \ 21, pp. 181-188. 

(174) 



CONVERSION. 



175 



(" having been begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but 
of incorruptible, through the word of God, which liveth 
and abideth," 1 Pet. 1: 23; " Of his own will he brought 
us forth by the word of truth," James 1: 18), and bap- 
tism in like manner (" Except a man be born of water and 
the Spirit," John 3 : 5 ; " through the washing of regen- 
eration and renewing of the Holy 7 Ghost," Tit. 3: 5). 
The "anew" (compare the " second time" ofNicodemus, 
John 3 : 4) points out the position of this birth in relation 
to the first birth into the natural life, as beginning over 
again from the commencement, a second birth. The first, 
as the birth of the flesh, forms the contrast to the birth of 
the Spirit (John 3 : 6). The new birth from God is a 
creative act ; and its immediate result affects the spiritual 
life of the whole man, inasmuch as he is thereby made par- 
taker of a new vital energy, a Dew principle of life, which 
is able to guide the ethical tendency of his nature in con- 
formity with the will of God, because it is from God. For 
this reason the regenerate one is called a new creature, a 
new man (2 Cor. 5: 17; Gal. 6: 15; "the new man, 
which is after God, created in righteousness," Eph. 4: 24; 
" the new man, which is being renewed unto knowledge 
after the image of him that created him," Col. 3: 10 ; 
" for we (believers) are his workmanship, created in Christ 
Jesus for good works," Eph. 2: 10). 

Moreover, this new birth, so far as it concerns only the 

life produced in man, or the new man, resembles the nat- 

* 

ural birth also in this, that, just as man passes from the 
new-born child to the perfect man, so it has its stages of 



176 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



development. But this new principle of life is, in all its 
stages, incontestably present, wholly and indivisibly, as by 
the operation of the Holy Spirit not the half, but the whole 
Christ lives, works, and operates in him who is regenerate. 
There will be no difficulty in personally adopting this doc- 
trine of regeneration in a manner not only intelligible, but 
in harmony with experience and Scripture, if we sufficiently 
separate the first creative act from its after results, and do 
not wrongly' divide what is created from him who is con- 
stantly creating, the operation from him who is constantly 
operating, the birth from him who is constantly begetting. 
It is called, indeed, an accomplished act — a birth — like 
everything which has its beginning in time. That, how- 
ever, which in this case has taken its beginning, is not 
merely a newly-originated spiritual life in men, but a spir- 
itual communion of the living and everlasting God with us, 
which we can not destroy, unless by virtue of offences on 
account of which God is resolved to cause it to cease. 

Regeneration is consequently the beginning of that com- 
munion of God with us, by which he in Christ illumines 
us by the Holy Spirit with the light of life (2 Tim. 1 : 10), 
and creates in us a new thing which was not before in us. 
But the idea of regeneration is not exhausted in that of a 
finished operation internally wrought on us and on the 
complex state of our natural condition. Rather is it the 
beginning within us of an essential relation between us and 
the regenerating God. For this very thing belongs to the 
nature of regeneration, that it does not all at once and me- 
chanically transform the whole man, but that it transplants 



CONVERSION. 



177 



us into a perfect communion on the part of God with us, 
who comes to meet us with the fulness of his grace, in or- 
der that we may obtain the power for a gradual transforma- 
tion. To what extent this transforming power belongs to 
the nature of regeneration can be clearly seen if we dis- 
criminate between the idea of regeneration and that of its 
after-results, and view it in its strictest and narrowest 
sense as an act and work of God in us, by virtue of which 
he bestows on our inner man, with the indwelling of his 
Holy Spirit, that which is to become the power of life and 
the beginning of our life in God, by which we are once for 
all rescued from death and made alive, and indeed in such 
a manner that that which is bestowed upon us by God's 
grace in our regeneration as the vital power destined to 
have dominion over us, is recognized by us at the same 
time as an entirely new life, notwithstanding that we still 
feel in us the death of the old man. 

Of the act of God in itself and as such, by which, through 
the operation of the Holy Spirit, he enters into communion 
with us, and effects in us the groundwork and beginning 
of a new life, we are never conscious, but only in its re- 
sults, which are at the same time impulses of our own life 
actuated by the Holy Ghost. The divine operation in it- 
self by which we are regenerated, at whatever period of our 
existence it may be conceived as taking place, is and re- 
mains to our spiritual apprehension an unapproachable and 
hidden mystery, and is effected as unconsciously to our- 
selves as our procreation and birth in the natural life. 
Thus also in the domain of the spiritual life procreation and 
13 



1 7 8 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



birth have already taken place, when our consciousness of 
the same first arises. 

What we wish to make clear is the fact, that the rise of a 
new life in the individual is in its origin purely an act of 
God, which the Holy Ghost accomplishes in our spirit, 
though not in our consciousness, in order that it may pre- 
sent itself to that consciousness as an act accomplished by 
God, and that it may be accepted by us with conscious 
will. We .become new creatures not by any act of our 
own, but by God's act. Just as we have the natural life 
complete by means of our birth, and do not first make it so 
by our consciousness of it, so also we have by that birth 
from God our new life complete, which is a living and 
working of God within us, and do not first make it so by 
the fact of our becoming conscious of it. 

Another question arises. Are we to say that regenera- 
tion comes by faith, or that we are regenerated to faith? 
It is better to say that we are regenerated to faith. For 
faith is as certainly already a fruit of this life born of God, 
as it is our own act by the working of the Holy Ghost. 
He, who has become a partaker of the Holy Ghost, has al- 
ready that life from God, and does not first receive it 
through faith. It is the creative energy of God in us, 
which produces faith. For faith itself is only the effect 
and product of this life and operation of God within, which 
regenerates us. First must a regeneration on the part of 
God have taken place in us, before we are able to believe, 
and in order to our being able to do so, and this may be 
called the fundamental regeneration, the new birth in its 



CONVERSION. 



179 



strict sense, by virtue of which God begins a new thing in 
us, and not we in him. And this new thing is the gracious 
presence of God the Holy Ghost in us. Before this we can 
conceive of nothing which can be called a life from God ; 
and after it, nothing which does not presuppose this in- 
ward change in our relation to God. The entrance of this 
communion of Gcd the Holy Spirit into our inner man is 
the hour of our birth into .a new life, the regenerating start- 
ing-point and groundwork of a life where God works and 
acts in us ; and all regeneration to faith, to love, to hope, 
and everything which may be called Christian life, where 
we live in God, is only the further result of that seed of 
God implanted in us, with whose presence the regenera- 
tion from God begins. 

Regeneration and Baptism. — Every one who by repent- 
ance and faith has found salvation in Christ, realizes that 
this change, though it has taken place with the deepest and 
most earnest movement of the will, has not been brought 
about by his own power. He can only refer this new state 
as a work of the Lord, and the fact remains the same, 
whether he regards this operation of God as effected either 
through the preaching of the Word, or through the recep- 
tion of the sacrament of baptism. For regeneration is not 
wrought by the word alone, but by word and sacrament in 
indissoluble union. The Apostle says, " Ye have been be- 
gotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, 
through the word of God. . . . And this is the word of 
good tidings which was preached unto you" (1 Pet. 1: 
23, 25). And the word that is preached points to bap- 



i8o 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



tism : " Repent ye, and be baptized every one of you in 
the name of Jesus Christ unto the remission of your sins ; 
and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost " (Acts 2 : 
38). For by baptism one is not merely externally incor- 
porated into the Church of Christ, but becomes a member 
of the body of Christ, is incorporated into the permanent 
communion of Christ, as well as into his means and effects 
of grace, whereby he receives the conditions for a pro- 
gressive development of personality. In baptism God sets 
up his covenant of grace with man, and by and through it 
we are baptized into and in the name of the Father, and 
of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, that is, into the com- 
munion of the Triune God. We are baptized into the 
righteousness of Christ, to the forgiveness of sins, into the 
mystical union with Christ, unto adoption as sons, that we 
may die with the crucified Christ, and may walk in a new 
life in the power of the risen one (Rom. 6 : 3-6). And as 
baptism is God's covenant of grace, so it is likewise a 
"washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy 
Ghost" (Tit. 3: 5). The gift of grace of baptism, which 
is one with the communion of the Lord, includes in it po- 
tentially, or as a fruitful, life-potent possibility, the whole 
fulness of the blessings of this communion. The develop- 
ment of it may indeed be hindered by unbelief and world- 
liness ; and there this gift remains without blessing for the 
man, nay, it may become a judgment to him. 

If Christian Ethics is an exposition of the life which, as 
produced by God, is realized in Christendom and in a 
Christian man, it can take no other starting-point than 



CONVERSION. 



181 



baptism. Christ affirms that without the new birth no one 
can see the kingdom of God (John 3 : 3), and that with- 
out baptism he cannot enter into the kingdom of God 
(John 3 : 5) ; and baptism is the means entrusted to the 
Church by which, among all nations, men are to be made 
disciples of Christ (Matt. 28: 19). But our next task is, 
to declare more precisely the way in which by baptism the 
beginning and implanting of the new life is brought about. 
That which takes place in baptism, Christ affirms to be 
something effected by the Spirit, and he that is born of 
water and the Spirit is one born of the Spirit (John 3 : 5, 
6, 8). And if in the command of Christ baptism is made 
to bear an equally prominent relation to the Father, the 
Son, and the Holy Ghost (Matt. 28: 19), it is so done 
just for this reason, because the Holy Spirit, who by means 
of baptism begins his work in man, is both of the Father 
and of the Son (John 14 : 26 ; 15 : 26 ; 16 : 7 ; Rom. 8 : 
9 (the Spirit of God) ; 2 Cor. 3 : 17 (the Spirit of the 
Lord); Phil. 1: 19 (the Spirit of Jesus Christ) ; Gal. 4: 
6 (the Spirit of his Son) ; and because that which he be- 
stows he takes from what belongs to the Son; but what the 
Son has, the Father has just as much (John 16 : 14, 15). 
That, however, which begins in a man in and by means 
of baptism, is the gracious presence and the activity of God 
the Holy Ghost. And this is never to be softened down 
into a mere operation of the Spirit taking place on our 
Spirit. The way, however, in which this presence of the 
Holy Ghost in us, and that especially in baptism, aims at 
bringing about our communion with Christ, may be briefly 



l82 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



characterized as a fellowship of death and of life with 
Christ. We are buried with him through baptism into 
death, having become united with him by the likeness ot 
his death, that like as Christ was raised from the dead 
through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk in 
newness of life (Rom. 6 : 4, 5 ; Col. 2 : 12) ; and as by 
the presence of the Holy Ghost we are united to Christ, 
and Christ who died and rose again for us, lives in and is • 
present with us, therefore we who are baptized have "put 
on " Christ (Gal. 3 : 27), are washed clean from bur sins 
(Acts 22: 16), having our hearts sprinkled from an evil 
conscience (Heb. 10 : 22 ; i Pet. 3 : 21), and now for the 
first time, by the aid of the indwelling Spir't, bear in our 
hearts the law of God, together with God's sin-forgiving 
mercy (Heb. 8 : 10, 12), and are freed from the body of 
flesh (Col. 2 : n, 12), since the body is dead indeed be- 
cause of sin, but the spirit is life because of righteousness 
(Rom. 8:10). In such a Way is baptism the washing of 
regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost (Tit. 3 : 5). 

In ail that takes place in baptism there is supposed not 
an acting of ours, but an acting and an internal, real, and 
effective relation of Christ, by which the Holy Ghost makes 
us a partaker of Christ by means, of his word and sacra- 
ment. A convert like Paul requires the same, and receives 
it at his desire (Acts 22 : 16), just as much and in the 
same way as it is bestowed upon the little children who 
cannot as yet desire it, but who are brought to the Lord by 
those who know that Christ desires to be and become to the 
child also, as to every one who is born of the flesh. That 



CONVERSION. 



183 



all flesh stands in need of baptism, and that the promise 
of Christ concerning his baptism is valid for all flesh, forms 
the ground on which rests the certainty of that faith in 
which infants are brought for baptism, and not a command 
or law enjoining infant baptism. 

Regeneration i7i its Wider Sense. — When, with the apos- 
tle, we said above that regeneration takes place by means 
of the preached Word, but also said that it is baptism- by 
which the foundation to regeneration is laid, this implies 
that regeneration must be accomplished in a two-fold form, 
if the new man that is coming to the birth is to be fully 
brought forth. Even in the natural human life we distin- 
guish between self-conscious and unconscious or pre-con- 
scious life. So we must likewise also distinguish in the 
life of the new man between the conscious and the uncon- 
scious; and between the unconscious life and the sacra- 
ment of baptism there is a deep connection. Regenera- 
tion in infant baptism embraces the unconscious life, and 
the relation, lying beyond personal experience, of grace to 
the individual. But in order that the effects arising from 
within, may become powerful and active, there must also 
take place from without, namely, by the preaching of the 
word, an influence on the self-conscious life, whereby the 
hindrances that here occur may be overcome and set aside, 
and the man be brought to make grace his own. Regen- 
eration in baptism alone, without a personal new birth, is 
only embryonic ; and what is called personal regeneration 
by the preached word, without baptism, lacks the right 
support for the personal life, the rich background filled 



184 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



by grace, the supporting foundation ; wherefore adults who 
have not received infant baptism, after they have been 
awakened by the preaching of the word, must be directed 
to baptism, in order to be really and fully born again. 



SECTION II. 

CONVERSION. 

Appropriation of the Spirit of Regeneration. — It is the 
will of God, that what he bestows upon us by the working 
of the regenerating Spirit, should be appropriated by the 
conscious individual, and should be voluntarily embraced by 
him. So much the more so for this reason, that the work- 
ing of the regenerating Spirit has for its object to subdue 
the selfish will, and to awake in us a life in which we no 
longer wish to live unto ourselves. And in this working of 
God's Holy Spirit within our hearts we may distinguish be- 
tween our anguish of conscience, and our yearning after 
peace with God, which inclines us to lay hold of that which 
God in Christ is for us and has done for us. This two-fold 
passive experience wrought in us by God we may call, both 
in its beginning and in its permanent existence, man's 
conversion. 

The Nature and Permanence of Conversion. — Where 
conversion itself has taken place, there a passive sorrow, 
wrought by the Holy Spirit, through the Word, by means 
of our conscience, has led to a change of mind and a men- 
tal revolution, in which we no longer trust in ourselves, 



CONVERSION. 



but turn to God who stills and lays to rest the sorrow of the 
soul and the anguish of conscience. The Scripture word 
metanoia, " change of mind," serves equally to denote the 
turning away from what is opposed to God (Acts 8: 22 ; 
" repentance from dead works," (Heb. 6:1; Rev. 2 : 21), 
as the turning to God (Acts 20: 21). But just because 
the word embraces both relations, it serves to indicate at 
one time the one aspect, at another time the othei (Matt, 
n: 21: "repent ye and turn again," Acts 3: 19; 26: 
20; 2 Cor. 12: 21; Acts 20: 21). In both these points 
of view, the word metanoia, "change of mind," indicates 
that this process is to be regarded as having its seat in the 
conscious, individual, and personal spirit-life. An ethical 
result is reached only in the form of a definite, individ- 
ual and personal tendency of mind. This is meant, when it 
is said that he who has become a partaker of the Holy Spirit 
has the mind of Christ (1 Cor. 2 : 16), or when it is said 
that we need a renewal in the spirit of our mind (Eph. 4 : 
23), that is to say, in our spirit, as it is the impelling and 
determining power of the conscious tendency of our mind. 
And we may draw this distinction between regeneration 
and conversion, that regeneration as a divine act is accom- 
plished in the spirit of man, a new life principle being im- 
planted, — while in conversion, that which takes place is 
accomplished in the mind or disposition of man, as a con- 
scious, individual, and personal tendency of the will. This 
is not an idle and merely theoretical distinction, but of the 
greatest practical importance. For there are not a few 
who, in the domain of the spirit, never in their life pass be- 



1 86 CHRISTIAN E THICS. 

yond what we may call temporary sorrow, who nevex 
perience that " godly sorrow which worketh repentance 
unto salvation" (2 Cor. 7: 10), for they never reach 
conversion. 

" God willeth that all men should be saved, and come to 
the knowledge of the truth" (1 Tim. 2: 4), and in his 
Gospel "he commandeth men that they should all every- 
where repent " (Acts 17: 30, 31). This requirement to 
turn is addressed to all, and we by no means except from 
this number those who have been received into the bosom 
of the Church by infant baptism. For not to speak of this, 
that many of them have fallen from their baptismal cove- 
nant, and must be called back to it again, there will occur 
in the life of all of them a period in which the life of this 
world gains such an influence, such a power over them, 
that there is need of an awakening and conversion. 

The Knowledge of the Law and the Gospel. — If a man is 
to be converted, he must, by the leadings of God's grace 
(both outward and inner leadings), be awakened to a liv- 
ing knowledge of the law of God, must above all come to 
the knowledge of the first and great commandment, that 
he may thereby be brought to know his sin and guilt, to 
know that his root-evil lies in the position he occupies to 
God. But it is equally needful that he be awakened to get 
a clear view of the gospel, if he is not to despair about his 
sin. Both are wrought by the word of God, ordinarily 
through Christian preaching, which is the means ordained 
by God to this end, and whose chief mark is this, that it 
does not consist in enticing words of man's wisdom, but in 



CONVERSION. 



187 



demonstration of the Spirit and of power (1 Cor. 2:4). 
For the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts consists in 
this, that he testifies to the truth of the two-fold word, and 
quickens it in us, — the two-fold word which, as the word 
of one and the same God, condemns us in the law, and in 
the Gospel rescues us from this condemnation, in such a 
manner that we become recipients of grace only in the pro- 
portion in which we judge ourselves rightly. When the 
word of God, as law and Gospel, makes the right impres- 
sion on a human soul, a two-fold effect will also be pro- 
duced, namely, repentance and faith. 

If the truth is in us, and it is only so by the Spirit of 
truth, then the first thing is, that we acknowledge and con- 
fess our sin (1 John 1 : 8, 10). Therefore, when by the 
operation of the Holy Ghost his word is to be made alive 
m us, it must be that word which reveals to us our sin — ac- 
cuses, judges, and condemns our sin. This, however, is 
the work of the law, " for through the law cometh the 
knowledge of sin " (Rom. 3: 20). And because the law 
is appointed by God's will as our tutor to bring us unto 
Christ (Gal. 3 : 23, 24), no operation of the Holy Ghost 
upon us is conceivable without its bringing to our inner ex- 
perience, as a preparatory aim, this crushing power of the 
law. It is brought to our experience not in a general an- 
guish of conscience, but in the definite consciousness of 
sinfulness and guilt before God. 

Repentance and Faith. 1 — Genuine repentance consists in 
this, that a man suffering from the stings of conscience, 
1 Compare Heirless, § 24, pp. 206-223. 



1 88 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



suffers himself to be rebuked and condemned by the law, 
and acknowledges the justice of this rebuke and condemna- 
tion with his whole heart. It is a deep internal pain, a 
contrition and sorrow, not for this or that single sin sim- 
ply, but it is a deep grief for his whole sinful and guilty 
state, for separation from God. This willingness to bow 
down before God characterizes the true repentance of the 
converted man; but this willingness springs not exactly 
from the law, which by the working of the Holy Ghost has 
been made alive in the heart, but from the contemporane- 
ous inward confirmation of the gospel, that in heaven there 
is more joy over one sinner that repenteth than over 
ninety and nine righteous persons, which need no repent- 
ance (Luke 15: 7). The course of conversion resembles 
that of the prodigal son to his father. "I have sinned 
against heaven, and in thy sight ; I am no more worthy to 
be called thy son,"— this is the confession (Luke 15 : 18). 
But then the prodigal son arises and goes to his father. 
The way to the Father, however, is pointed out only by 
the Holy Ghost by means of the Gospel of Christ. The 
cutting sword of the law would neither point out nor open 
up this way. On the contrary, the end of that way, which 
he goes who knows nothing but the stings of conscience, is 
shown to us in the repentance of Judas (Matt. 27 : 3-5.) 

In repentance I recognize the justice of the judgment I 
have merited, and willingly allow myself to be judged by 
the law, because in the very midst of this judgment I at the 
same time, but through other means (the gospel), expe- 
rience consolation. This, however, is the consolation of 



CONVERSION. 



which the Holy Ghost makes me certain, — namely, that 
for Christ's sake, in whom judgment is swallowed up in 
grace, God makes over to me forgiveness of sins in his word 
of promise. If I receive this grace, which serves only to 
confirm God's judgment impending over me and all flesh; 
that is to say, if I cheerfully consent to this, that God ac- 
cepts me a sinner, not on account of my repentance, but 
for Christ's sake, — then has my conversion fully taken place. 
Such willing acceptance comes to pass, however, only in 
faith. For in repentance, in so far as it only feels the an- 
guish of the conscience and the brokenness of the heart, 
there is accomplished in me only the operation of God the 
Holy Spirit as confirming the truth of the law. In faith, 
however, which makes the alarmed soul willing to kiss the 
rod, to submit to judgment, and nevertheless to comfort it- 
self with grace, the agency of the Holy Spirit, as confirm- 
ing the truth of the gospel, reaches its consummation. 
Both these effects must be indissolubly united in one, if 
salvation is really to be the result. For if I surrender my 
own will to the whole will of God, as expressed in the law 
and the gospel, I can make this surrender only in faith and 
repentance. Hence we can name nothing else but faith 
and repentance as the essential marks of that conversion, 
in which the law and gospel coincide in one saving result. 

A sinner who has nothing but repentance, stands only 
under God's wrath, and in the consciousness of the same. 
When he is delivered from this, it is by the grace of God 
in Christ alone, which is appropriated for one's self not in 
repentance, but in faith. Since, however, it is not faith 



190 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



but repentance alone which shatters the security of the sin- 
ner, faith is not inwardly attained without repentance. 
And because repentance does not attain to assurance of the 
forgiveness of sins, the sinner has his life not from repent- 
ance, but from faith alone. Since, however, faith has no- 
thing in and about man to hold up before God, on account 
of which God should be gracious to the sinner, and absolve 
him from sin and guilt, — has nothing but Christ alone, the 
Propitiator and Intercessor, — therefore we know that we 
find favor and are justified before God in penitent faith, 
not however,/^ the sake of "our penitent faith. 

When repentance and faith are born in the soul, a man 
may gain back, in a certain sense, all the time he has 
squandered in the world. For hereby he is brought to a 
standpoint above time and the world, on which he gains 
new possibilities and powers ; nay, in one day far more 
happens than otherwise in a long course of years. 

The question here arises whether conversion as consist- 
ing in repentance and faith has a lasting character, or 
whether we may regard repentance and faith as a some- 
thing which might here below ever be done away with, 
so that one might perhaps reach beyond the one by 
means of the other, or might reach, as it were, some 
higher point beyond both, by means of some other third 
thing. We answer, the relation in which the Spirit of re- 
generation stands to the believer here on earth is a perma- 
nent one ; but not in such a sense, that God extirpates the 
old man, in order by one act of creation to put a com- 
plete new man in his place, — but God desires, by the 



CONVERSION. 



191 



gracious presence and operation of the Holy Spirit, to be- 
stow upon the believer the real possibility of overcoming 
the death of the old man, and, in spite of sin which still 
cleaves to him, of appropriating the grace of forgiveness of 
sins, and the free gift of righteousness before God. And 
just because this relation to God is a permanent one, at no 
stage of the Christian life is any other form of appropriation 
of this saving relation of the believer to God conceivable, 
than that in which at his conversion the believer for the 
first time enters upon. 

With the exception of that perfect grace which is in 
Christ and for Christ's sake, everything which belongs to 
our life, even in the very highest degree of development 
on earth, is in the state of imperfection. We never cease 
in the light of truth to be an object of dissatisfaction to our- 
selves ; nay, the brighter this light becomes in us, so much 
the more clearly do we see the depths of that darkness 
which is still within us. A passing beyond repentance 
would be possible only to him who leads himself astray, 
and by a denial of his sin make God a liar. He, therefore, 
who, when converted, desires to remain in the state of 
grace, in which grace God daily merely for Christ's sake 
alone accounts us righteous, can do so only by continual 
repentance and constant faith. 

Hindrances to Conversion. — The reason why so many 
men will not be converted and become true followers of 
Christ, lies partly in the depravity of the human heart, and 
partly in pride. For the heart is deceitful above all things, 
and desperately wicked, and the preaching of Christ cruci- 



192 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



fied is "unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Gen- 
tiles foolishness " (1 Cor. 1: 23). It is especially the pride 
of the human heart that takes offence at the gospel (1 Cor. 
1 : 18-25). The reason of man is not willing to accept the 
revelation of God's will as given unto us, but would seek 
salvation and righteousness in some other way. 

Sin has gained such power over man, that he shrinks 
back from the death in which he has to die to his old self, 
in which he has to break with the worldly views in which 
he has been living, and with his old habits, — and so he 
constantly defers his conversion. This sloth and procras- 
tination of heart causes the many /^^"conversions, where a 
man stops on the way, without reaching the goal, and also 
leads to conversion being deferred to the death-bed, where 
at times it may indeed take place, but where it is by no 
means always given to have at . command the outward and 
inward conditions for it. 

But the deepest hindrance to conversion is the lack of 
uprightness towards himself, which lack is innate in the 
human heart. It is found in the defiant and proud heart, 
that will not see itself as it is, but constantly conjures up 
an image of its own goodness and greatness, which is not 
based on truth, and never will descend to a thorough hu- 
mility. And where this inclination to seek out pretexts for 
not accepting Christ, and taking him at his word, gains the 
upper hand, it leads not only to the rejection of the gos- 
pel, but may also lead to a certain seeming conversion. The 
beginning of such a seeming conversion is seen in men 
who have indeed a feeling of the necessity of conversion, 



t 

CONVERSION. 



193 



but who are forever seeking for the truth, without ever find- 
ing it, because they have not the earnest will to find it. A 
type of these souls we find described in 2 Tim. 3 : 6, 7, 
where the apostle speaks of those " laden with sins, led 
away by divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come 
to the knowledge of the truth." 

If we consider the weakness of our heart, and how great 
the dangers and hindrances that must be overcome in order 
that real conversion may take place, the despondent heart 
may well ask, "Who then can be saved?" (Matt. 19 : 25.) 
And to this we have no other answer than Christ's, "With 
men this is impossible ; but with God all things are pos- 
sible." 



SECTION III. 

THE GOSPEL AND FAITH. 1 

The Essence and Import of the Gospel. — " The law was 
given by Moses ; grace and truth came by Jesus Christ' ' 
(John 1 : 17 ;) " for if the inheritance is of the law, it is 
no more of promise" (Gal. 3 : 18.) The law is that which 
lays down what man is to do; the gospel reveals whence 
man is to obtain it ; for it is quite a different thing to know 
what we ought to possess, and to know whence we may pro- 
cure it. There is one branch of the art of medicine to 
say where the disease lies, and another to say what course we 
are to take to get quit of it. So it is here also. The law 

1 Compare Heirless, \ 17, 18, pp. 133-163. 

14 



194 



» 

CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



discovers our disease, and the gospel supplies the remedy 
for healing. 

We need not here discuss that act of God in Christ, in 
which the reconciliation and redemption of the world from 
the divine wrath was accomplished, for this belongs more 
especially to the sphere of Dogmatics We here have to 
consider the word in which this act is offered to us for our 
acceptance. And there is nothing that presents itself more 
plainly than the fact that the Christian finds himself pointed 
away from his own thoughts to thoughts of God, which are 
comprised in words which claim for themselves eternal du- 
ration and force, and whose abiding appropriation and keep- 
ing is made the condition of an abiding communion with 
Christ. He who speaks this word, and at the same time 
asserts such things of this his own word is Christ himself, 
and he characterizes his word as the word of his heavenly 
Father (John 14 : 24 ; 17 : 6, 8.) As the final historical 
revelation of God taking place in time, in comparison with 
which no other has any value, even though an angel should 
come from heaven to preach another gospel (Gal. 1 : 
7, 8,) this word is exempted from that passing away which 
is the lot both of heaven and earth and never passes away 
(Matt. 24: 35 ; Mark 13:31;! Pet. 1 : 25.) In this " word 
of the gospel" (Acts 15 : 7) is the mystery of salvation, 
which was hidden from former generations (Rom. 16 : 25 ; 
Eph. 3:5,9; Col. 1 : 26,) and which is the fulfilling of 
the promises made in the Old Testament (Jer. 31 : 31,) and 
the disclosure of that which is hidden in the revelation of 
the Old Testament (2 Cor. 3:15, 16 ; Luke 24 : 27.) And 



CONVERSION. 



J 95 



this word is offered to us not merely in order that we may 
by it rightly understand the work and history of Christ, 
which in themselves might be misunderstood or misinter- 
preted, but in order that with the first disciples of Christ 
we might hold it fast, that we might be pure for the word's 
sake which Christ has spoken to us (John 15:3.) As the 
incarnate Word is the salvation of the whole human race, 
Christ will be so to the individual only in his word, which 
he brings and offers for our acceptance. Without his word, 
Christ is not our salvation ; he is so only in, with, and 
through his word. 

As the condition of true discipleship, Christ names the 
abiding in his word (John 8 : 31 ; 15 : 7.) He who does 
not receive the words which have proceeded from Christ, 
has already his judge in the Word of the Father, which Christ 
proclaims ; and this word will also judge him at the last 
day (John 12 : 48.) 

The ethical position which we have to take in regard to 
Christ, depends most essentially on the offer of salvation 
through the word, and has its decisive test in that which is 
called the doctrine, or the Word of God and of Christ, 
and in the way in which we act toward the teaching of this 
word. For John says that " he who abideth in the teach- 
ing, the same hath both the Father and the Son" (2 John 
9.) Where are we to find this teaching ? On this point 
Christ himself refers us to the appointed bearers and mes- 
sengers of his word. So completely by Christ's prayer 
(John 17 : 20) and command (Matt. 28: 20) are the Word 
of Christ and that of his disciples combined together in one, 



196 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



that a distinction is impossible, and thus surely also the word 
of the disciple has always for its basis and presupposition 
the Word of Christ himself. He, therefore, who will take 
his stand on Christ's will, must take his stand without dis- 
tinction on the Word of Christ and the doctrine of his 
messengers ; he stands under the curse who seeks any other 
gospel (Gal. 1 : 8, 9.) But for the ethical determination 
of our own conduct, one mode of judging alone is of value 
in order to ascertain whether this Gospel be really God's 
Word. This mode of judging is traced out for us in the 
word of Christ : "If any man willeth to do his will, he 
shall know of the teaching, whether it be of God, or 
whether I speak from myself (John 7 : 17 ;) and that will 
of God of which Christ speaks, is just that which was 
preached by Christ himself, and delivered to his Apostles, 
to be afterwards preached by them. Wherein the doing of 
this will consists, is hereafter to be described. 

The specific form of the whole gospel is promise, which 
God for his own sake, dependent on nothing but the will 
of his grace, gives in the word, and causes to be preached. 
The last period of the world is the reign of grace (Rom. 5 : 
21.) Hence in Scripture grace and promise form an indis- 
soluble unity (Rom. 4 : 16.) For to this end is Christ the 
mediator of the New Covenant and Testament, that we 
may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance (Heb. 
9 : 15.) That these precious and exceeding great promises 
are given to us (2 Pet. 1:432 Cor. 7 : 1,) — this fact es- 
tablishes the position of a Christian man ; and if he calls 
himself a son and heir, he is to know no other title for 



CONVERSION. 



197 



this except that of the promise alone, purely of grace (Gal. 
4 : 28 ; 3 : 29 ; Rom. 4 : 16.) 

But not only does this characterize the word of the gos- 
pel, that it is promise, but that through Christ it is the 
power of working salvation. In this sense the words of 
Christ are spirit and life (John 6 : 63.) By virtue of the 
connection of this word with the effectual working of the 
Lord who is the Word, it is called a living and active word 
(Heb. 4: 12;) it is the imperishable seed of which we 
Christians are born (1 Pet. 1 : 23 ; James 1 : 18,) the power 
of God unto salvation to every one that believeth (Rom. 1 : 
16; 1 Cor. 1 : 18.) 

This is the word wfiich is to be preached to all nations 
(Matt. 28: 19; Mark 13: 10; Luke 24: 47.) For the 
grace of God hath appeared, bringing salvation to all men 
(Tit. 2 : 17,) for God our Saviour willeth that an men should 
be saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim. 
2: 4.) 

Justifying Faith. — To the question of the Jews, " What 
must we do, that we may work the works of God ? " Jesus 
answers, " This is the work of God, that ye believe on him 
whom he hath sent " (John 6 : 28, 29,) — that is, God will 
so have it, that this shall be called his work and true ser- 
vice, that we should believe on Christ. Jesus speaks of a 
work that we are to perform, namely, to believe. But in 
John 6 : 44, 65 he teaches us whence this faith comes. 
For faith is a divine work which God requires 'of us, but 
which he himself also must bestow on us ; for of ourselves 
we cannot believe. God requires of us that we accept the 



198 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



grace of God in Christ offered to us, and he only truly re- 
ceives this grace, when at the same time he holds fast the 
fact that he has to thank the grace of God alone that he has 
received it. We believe through grace (Acts 18: 27,) by 
grace are we saved through faith ; and that not of our- 
selves, it is the gift of God (Eph. 2:8.) Christ himself 
says : "No man can come to me, except the Father which 
sent me draw him ;" "no man can come unto me, except it 
be given* unto him of the Father " (John 6 : 44, 65,) and in 
John 15 : 5, he says : " Apart from me ye can do nothing." 
When it Is said that faith comes of hearing, and hearing by 
the Word of Christ (Rom. 10 : 17,) it is meant that the 
preaching of the divine word is the divine means by which 
faith comes as a divine operation. For faith is numbered 
among the gifts of the Spirit of God (1 Cor. 12 : 9,) and 
nothing is more important for us than to distinguish the hu- 
man faith, or human opinion that we have faith, from that 
faith which is divine, and which is wrought in us by God. 

While the objective ground of our justification before God 
(the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ) has its origin in 
grace, and nothing but grace, there also is named in Scrip- 
ture, as the subjective ground or the subjective means of 
our justification, faith, and nothing but faith, for which the 
promise of the righteousness which avails before God exists, 
and by which that promise is laid hold of. There is an 
absolutely necessary mutual relation between faith, grace, 
and promise. " For this cause it is of faith, that it may be 
according to grace ; to the end that the promise may be 
sure" (Rom. 4 : 16.) When, in any one point of this triad, 



CONVERSION. 



199 



anything is put out of place, the whole falls to the ground. 
To be found in Christ, means not to have a self-righteous- 
ness springing out of the law, but that which comes from 
faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on 
the ground of faith (Phil. 3:9.) The rock on which Israel 
split, and on which all false Christianity also splits, is the 
establishing of a righteousness of their own (Rom. 10': 3, 4.) 

The design of faith in Jesus is to be justified by means of 
this faith in Jesus, and not by works of the law (Gal. 2 : 16.) 
This is that righteousness of faith (Rom. 4 : n, 13 ; 9 : 30 ; 
10 : 6 j Phil. 3:9; Heb. 11 : 7,) in which faith, which in 
itself is not righteousness, is counted, reckoned for right- 
eousness (Rom. 4: 5,) in order that man should be justified 
by grace alone (Tit. 3:7,) and all that is called work of 
the law should remain excluded from justification (Rom. 
3: 28.) 

There is an inseparable connection between repentance 
and faith, between a turning of the heart from sin and a 
turning unto God and unto holiness (Acts 3 : 19; 26 : 20; 
Mark 1 : 15 ; Acts 20: 21 ; 2 Cor. 7: 10). The preach- 
ing of the law alarms the conscience and prepares the soul 
for faith in the Son, and true faith is not arrived at with- 
out the most definite moral self-knowledge, " for through 
the law cometh the knowledge of sin" (Rom. 3: 20.) 
Moreover faith is not opposed to knowledge, for faith is in- 
conceivable without knowing and perceiving (2 Tim. 1 : 
12; John 6: 69; 10: 38.) For it bears in itself the 
* knowledge of Christ Jesus (Phil. 3: 8; 2 Pet. 3: 18,) in 
whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge 



200 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



(Col. 2:3); and the end of all growth of believers is unity 
of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God (Eph. 
4 : 13.) Nay, so inseparable are faith and knowledge, that 
where the position of the Christian is the theme, and where 
we might expect the mention of faith, the same is designa- 
ted by a knowledge of grace and truth (Col. 1 : 6. 1 Tim. 
2:4; 2 Tim. 2 ; 25.) But all this is a knowledge which 
makes us to be filled with the fruit of righteousness which 
comes through Jesus Christ (Phil. 1 : 9-1 1,) not knowledge 
for the sake of knowledge. And this knowledge we have 
in the Word, and from the Word. 

Under all circumstances, it remains correct that faith is 
the assurance of things hoped for, and an evidence of things 
not seen (Heb. 11 : 1.) And what is most important for 
us is that we should hold fast the things hoped for, and the 
things not seen, in order that our faith may never lean 
upon what is present and visible, but may ground itself on 
the promise alone, which lifts us above the present and 
makes us confident of the future. In Rom. 5: 10, n, 1 
Paul refers to the great acts of salvation of God in Christ, 
and their value for us. Here we see the true nature of jus- 
tifying faith. To believe or hold as true all the facts as 
here stated, /. e. the so-called historical faith, is not justi- 
fying faith. But justifying faith is to believe that not for 

1 " For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through 
the death of his Son, much more, being reconciled, shall we be saved 
by his life ; and not only so, but we also rejoice in God through our 
Ix)rd Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the recon- : 
ciliation." 



CONVERSION. 



201 



the sake of my faith, but for the sake of the death of the 
Son of God, even the Lord Jesus Christ, God in Christ is 
gracious to me, and forgives my sins, — and that for a cer- 
tainty God has given up his only-begotten Son for me, and 
has so loved me that I, for my Saviour's sake, shall not be 
lost, but have everlasting life. And in order that we may 
have clear ideas of what Scripture teaches concerning jus- 
tifying, faith, we must distinguish between five things: i. 
the efficient cause, the free grace of God ; 2. the meritori- 
ous cause, the merits of Christ's suffering and death; 3. 
the means which God uses to bestow justification, the min- 
istry of reconciliation (2 Cor. 5 : 18, 19); 4. the means by 
which justification is received, faith; 5. the gifts actually 
bestowed in the act of appropriating Christ by faith, (a) 
remission of sins, Rom. 3: 25; 4: 7, 8; Eph. 4: 32; (J?) 
the imputation of Christ's righteousness, Rom. 3:21, 22, 

25 ; 5 : 8 > 9 \ 1 Cor - 1 = 3° \ phil - 3 : 9- 

Our only comfort is in the grace which God has given us 
in Christ ; in him alone do we have the ground and foun- 
dation of our justification before God. This comfort the 
believer needs not only at the beginning of a new life, but 
also for the continuance and perfection thereof, in order 
that the conscience may remain free equally from the thun- 
derbolt of judgment, as from dead works (Heb. 9 : 14), 
and from the pollution of self-righteousness. There is at 
stake peace and joy of conscience, which no one can re • 
store, no one preserve, no one place in safety against as- 
sault, and keep accessible under all circumstances, except 
God alone, who holds out to us in his word of grace, for- 
giveness of sins and justification, for Christ's sake. 



PART II.-LIFE IN FOLLOWING CHRIST. 



CHAPTER I. 

CHRISTIAN LOVE. 



SECTION I. 

THE STATE OF GRACE. 

Life in a State of Grace. — In opposition to the life 
under the law and sin, the life of the regenerate is a life in 
the state of grace, which, however, does not mean that the 
life of the regenerate is perfect and sinless, and is already 
in the kingdom of glory, but that the power of sin is broken, 
the guilt taken away, and that now there has been brought 
about a true relation to God. For the regenerate man has 
the centre of his life no more in himself, nor in the world, 
but in the crucified and risen Christ. On the ground of 
his baptism and regeneration, and justified by faith, he now 
lives his life in following Christ, a life after the example 
and word of Christ, and likewise in the power of Christ, 
while he stands under the continued influence of the work 
of grace proceeding from Christ. As living in a state of 
grace, we seek to have the same mind, which was also in 
Christ Jesus (Phil. 2: 5), and to "cleanse ourselves from 
(202) 



CHRISTIAN LO VE. 203 

all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the 
fear of God (2 Cor. 7:1). 

Marks of being in a State of Grace. — In answer to the 
question, What are the marks by which it may be known 
that a man is in the state of Grace ? we must be careful 
not to set forth these marks in such a way as would apply 
only to the more perfect stages, but not to the more imper- 
fect. 

(1.) As the chief condition for a man being in the state 
of grace, we may mention, first, that the life must be firmly 
grounded on the foundation of baptism. But in order to 
stand in grace, it is not only requisite to be baptized, but 
also that we stand in personal relation to the grace that 
has been bestowed on us in baptism. 

(2.) Presupposing baptism, we know of no other marks 
but repentance and faith. Repentance, as repenting of sin 
and sorrow for sin, is not exclusively an act which took 
place once at our conversion. For although conversion 
may be regarded as a single event in a definite portion of 
man's life, the matter is by no means so that we are done 
with conversion once for all. We need a continued con- 
version, daily sorrow and repentance, with even new re- 
nunciation of the kingdom of darkness, and the spirit of 
darkness, till the day of our death. But inseparable from 
this is the faith that has not only once appropriated the com- 
fort of the gospel, but daily appropriates it anew. This 
constant renewal in faith is, however, only possible in that 
we earnestly strive and oppose all that would disturb the 
life of faith in us, that is, only by a sincere will and resolve 
after righteousness of life and holiness. 



204 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



SECTION II. 

SANCTIFICATION. 

Progressive Sanctification. — Life in following Christ we 
can only imagine as a life in progressive sanctification. As 
a continued purification from sins, and as the continued de- 
velopment and forming of the new life which has been and 
is given to us, and by which all natural gifts and powers 
are gradually brought under the dominion of Christ, our 
sanctification is at once a work of grace that gives the 
man a divine progress and growth, and a work of the la- 
boring and striving personal freedom of the will. It is de- 
veloped through a connected series of Christian virtues, 
through a variety of stages, and finally through a change 
of spiritual states and moods. 

The Activity of the Converted Man in his Sanctification} 
— The free gift of righteousness before God is bestowed on 
us for the purpose of a resurrection to a new life (Rom. 5 : 
21). For if Christ is in us, the body is dead because of 
sin j but the spirit is life because of righteousness (Rom 8 : 
10). That we should live through him, was the object of 
Christ's mission (1 John 4: 9). And this life has just this 
form, that henceforth we no longer live unto ourselves, but 
unto him who for our sakes died and rose again (2 Cor. 5_: 
15). If we live by the Spirit, we must also walk by trie 
Spirit (Gal. 5 : 25). The regenerating fellowship of God 
the Holy Ghost has for its object our entrance into com- 
munion with the holy God, by virtue of which we are 
called in the sanctification of the Spirit to self-sanctifica- 

1 Compare Heirless, § 25. 



CHRISTIAN LOVE. 



205 



tion (1 Pet. 1 : 15, 16). If, by the truth which has laid 
hold of our spirit, our souls have really become pure in 
obedience to the truth (1 Pet. 1 : 22), in that case only 
does the exhortation rightly find a place, to transform our- 
selves by the renewing of our mind, in order to prove what 
is the good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God (Rom. 
12 : 2). 

Persistence in sin, and the seeking of God's grace in re- 
pentance and faith, mutually exclude each other. How 
shall we who were baptized into Christ and who died to 
sin any longer live therein? (Rom. 6 : 2, 3). If we desire 
to know whether the grace given us in baptism is working 
in us, we must examine whether we are in the faith (2 Cor. 
13: 5; 1 Cor. 16: 13). He who is converted to God 
and justified by faith, on the ground of having received 
such grace, strives after that righteousness which consists 
in a conformity with the nature and will of God and with 
the mind of Christ (1 John 3:7^1. Pet. 4: 2). 

Since God has entered into a relation of gracious fellow- 
ship with the sinner, which is new to the latter, and which 
did not proceed from himself, his self-sanctification is not a 
manifestation or presentation of a holiness dwelling in his 
own nature, but a self-renovation, in which the believer sets 
to work in himself the renovating power ot that relation of 
grace into which God in Christ has entered with him by the 
Holy Ghost. In regeneration the powerful working of the 
Holy Spirit is bestowed upon us as a gift, and the new life is 
implanted in us, in sanctification we are to allow this new 
life to develop in us, and to show ourselves as powerful over 



2o6 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



ourselves. If we put off the old man and put on the new, 
which latter is nothing else but that putting on of Christ as 
it takes place in baptism (Gal. 3 : 27), we become clothed 
with the strength of Christ, which makes us free from our 
old nature. The new man has been created in righteous- 
ness and holiness of truth (Eph. 4 : 24), in Chr. : st Jesus 
for good works (Eph. 2 : 10) ; is beingrene wed unto knowl- 
edge after the image of him that created him (Col. 3 : 10), 
and indeed day by day in the inward man (2 Cor. 4 : 16) ; 
and cleanses himself from all defilement of flesh and spirit 
(2 Cor. 7:1), purifying himself, even as He is pure (1 
John 3:3). 

This we do when we sanctify in our hearts, by faith, 
Christ as Lord (1 Pet. 3 : 15), and make him the centre of 
all our thoughts, desires, and actions, and keep a right state 
of heart toward him, premitting no pleasure or earthly af- 
fection to lead us astray, forsaking everything which might 
disturb the peace and joy of a good conscience in him. 
Above all we must be on our guard against our own deceit- 
ful and ungodly lusts (Eph. 4: 22; 2 Tim. 4: 3; Jude 
18 j 1 John 2 : 16, 17). What we wish to avert when we 
struggle against these lusts, is the condemnation of our 
own hearts and the loss of boldness (cheerfulness) before 
God (1 John 3 : 21). This, however, is fundamentally 
nothing else than the desire to prevent Christ from becom- 
ing in our hearts a Judge to condemn us, and from taking 
away the peace and the joy which is the peculiar work of 
the Holy Spirit (1 Thess. 1:6; Gal. 5: 22; Rom. 14: 
i7)- 



CHRISTIAN LOVE. 



207 



No self-renovation is indeed conceivable without the ef- 
forts of the new man, but the new man does not subsist by 
himself, but, like the branch on the vine, cannot subsist 
without Christ (John 15 : 5). The great question therefore 
is, how can the believer maintain himself in Christ's fel- 
lowship, and establish himself more deeply and firmly there- 
in ; for apart from Christ he can do nothing. If we, re- 
generated and sanctified by the word (John 17 : 17), desire 
to sanctify ourselves, then must this word be sanctified and 
revolved over and over in our hearts. If the apostle ex- 
horts us to mutual strengthening (" Let the word of Christ 
dwell in you richly in all wisdom," Col. 3 : 16), in like 
manner, no other way, no other means, and no other ex- 
hortation, avails for our self-renewal. But the aim of our 
knowledge is not so much intellectual apprehension of 
Christ, as that we may become like him, transformed into 
his image (2 Cor. 3 : 18). And this is a work which, here 
below, is constantly to be carried on, bul is never comple- 
ted ; it is the fruit, but not the ground of our justification 
in God's sight, — the practical demonstration of our regen- 
eration and conversion. 

Sanctification and the Christian Virtues. — So long as pro- 
gress in sanctification is possible, the virtue of the new 
man is only an approximation to the truly perfect. The 
very essence of Christian virtue is the new life implanted 
in the regenerated will of the believer, that new fundamen- 
tal direction of the regenerated human will, its union and 
relation to the life in Christ. Viewed in this its essence, 
virtue is but one, — an abiding and living in and by Christ. 



208 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



But the one virtue is to be realized in a multiplicity of vir- 
tues. 

Among the Christian virtues, love is the chief. But we 
cannot name love without also naming freedom, for these 
two are inseparable, and in the depth of the Christian 
mental life are one, although in the development of life 
they appear as two. A love without freedom, a surrender 
which is not a free self-determining unforced surrender, has 
no moral worth. We may therefore say that there are two 
chief virtues, love and freedom, of which love, rooted in 
belief in grace, is the fundamental virtue ; for love is the 
fulfilling of the law (Rom. 13 : 10), and liberty is the 
handmaid of love. 

We, therefore, will consider the Christian virtues under 
the two-fold aspect, love and liberty. 



SECTION III. 

EVANGELICAL LOVE. 1 

Distinction between Faith, Love, and Hope. — Though 
this threefold working of the gospel is undoubtedly an 
organic, and in itself united whole, yet in their inner ori- 
gin and existence the one is conditioned by the other, has 
distinct relations, manifests itself in distinct forms and func- 
tions, "and has distinct reflex influences on its own disposi- 
tion and its own natural conduct, whether internal or ex- 
ternal. Since I do not arrive at faith through love and 
1 Compare Mar less, § 19. 



CHRISTIAN 10 VE. 



209 



hope, but by faith arrive at love and hope, believing, there- 
fore, is also something different from loving, and loving 
something differing from hoping, and hoping something 
different both from believing and loving. I arrive at faith 
when, by the working of conscience, the law, and the gos- 
pel, I have lost faith in myself; at love only then, when I 
have first won faith in God's love in Christ ; and at hope 
only in this way, that by faith I have become certain of an 
inheritance which here below is worth the continual aspira- 
tion of my love, and is by divine appointment to become 
its object. The relations also, as well as the forms and 
functions, in which faith, love, and hope are exercised and 
have their actual existence, are distinct. Faith hangs on the 
word of promise, love on that God who gives, hope on the 
promised inheritance. Faith receives and has, love gives, 
hope waits. Faith makes the heart firm, love makes it soft, 
hope expands it. Faith holds fast to what it has received, 
love gives up what it has received, hope triumphs over what 
is wanting. Faith capacitates us for dominion over this 
world, love for ministering to this world, hope for renun- 
ciation of this world. Faith is the confidence in what one 
hopes for ; love the proof of this — that one has faith ; hope 
the taking possession, before we have reached the goal, of 
that which we have learned by faith to love and yearn after. 
Faith is what it ceases to be in sight ; hope is what is ceases 
to be in full possession ; love is that which it never ceases 
to be, for God is love. 

The Nature of Love. — Just as love and faith are insepa- 
rable, so certain is it that we must first come to faith before 

r 5 



2IO 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



we come to true love. For my love does not cause me to 
believe ; but my faith causes me to love. For if my faith 
is the right faith, and in truth fixes itself only on the word 
of the love of God in Christ to me (i John 4: 10), then 
must it produce of itself the love which, according to God's 
gracious will, forms an indissoluble unity with faith (Eph. 
6 : 23 ; 1 Tim. 1 : 14 ; 2 Tim. 1 : 13). 

We may define Christian love as love to God in Christ. 
But love to God in Christ embraces as well surrender to 
God's kingdom outside of us, as surrender to his kingdom 
in us, embraces love to our neighbors as well as true self- 
love. In 1 Cor. 13: 1-13 Paul not only praises love, but 
also describes its characteristics. And although the ques- 
tion is not so much of love to God as of love to our neigh- 
bor, the criteria of true love remain the same in their rela- 
tion to God as in that towards our neighbor (1 John 4: 
20). And this is the very peculiarity of love, born from 
faith in God, whether it is love to God or love to our neigh- 
bor, that it can never do enough, and always feels itself a 
debtor. For this reason we cannot speak of our love in 
comparison with God's love in Christ, in any other way 
than as a debt which cannot be discharged. And it has 
only this meaning for us, that as -it is the fruit, so is it the 
manifestation and proof of our faith. 

Love is the Fulfilment of the Law. — As Christ character- 
izes the love of God and our neighbor as the highest com- 
mand, and the sum of the law (Matt. 22 : 37-40), so also 
does Paul call the love which flows from the love of God to 
us (Rom. 5:5), and which is poured into our heart by the 



CHRISTIAN LOVE.. 



211 



Spirit of God, the fulfiling of the .law (Rom. 13: 10). 
And herein is it the fulfiling of the law of love, that this 
fulfiling takes place in the free impulse of the love which is 
born of the Holy Ghost. This holds good just as much of 
the love to God as of the love to one's neighbor. And 
when the Scripture calls love a fulfiling of the law, it is 
so called in the sense that hereby is expressed what love 
effects without its needing the law. For if one has love, 
no law is necessary ; if he has it not, no law is sufficient. 

Method of Presenting this Subject. — After the example of 
the love of Christ which on the one hand, in the internal 
relation to the Father, is the appropriating and sacrificing 
love, and on the other hand, in relation to the world, the ac- 
tive and suffering love, — we describe the love of believers 
partly as the appropriating, contemplative, and mystical 
love, and partly as the practical love that enters into rela- 
tion to the world, and as Christian self-love. 



SECTION IV. 

APPROPRIATING LOVE. 

The Christianity of Appropriation and Worship higher 
than that of Works. — The Christianity of appropriation is 
better and higher than that of works, as certainly as God's 
grace and truth in Christ stands infinitely higher than all 
the works that we can perform to the glory of God. Mary, 
who sat at the feet of Jesus to hear his word, chose the 
good part more than Martha (Luke 10 : 42). In an or- 



212 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



ganized form, the appropriation of the grace of God in 
Christ, through the means of the word and sacraments, is 
exhibited in the celebration of public worship. And ex- 
perience teaches that those who neglect edification and ele- 
vation, through the means appointed by the Lord, degen- 
erate spiritually, both religiously and morally ; they sink 
deeper and deeper into worldliness, so that at last they be- 
come covered with worldliness like a crust, that makes them 
insusceptible for what is above the world. A Christian 
will, therefore, to promote his inner life, regularly take part 
in the public worship in the assembled congregation. But 
beyond and beside this, a Christian also must have his spe- 
cial worship in the closet, must get quiet hours for medita- 
tion and prayer, — for word and prayer are means of grace 
that are to be used even outside the assembly of the Church. 



SECTION V. 

CONTEMPLATIVE LOVE. 1 

Pious Contemplation. — The Christian has access to the 
fountain of a higher spiritual vitality than that which is 
open to other men, a vitality which is not of an external 
kind, either physical or psychical, but is inward and spiri- 
tual (Col. i : n). For the Christian is fervent inspirit 
(Rom. 12: 11), and has an earnest zeal which in his in- 
ward life shows itself specially in the desire to be occupied 
with God and divine things. This desire is carried into 
1 Compare also Dorner, g 51, 52. 



CHRISTIAN LOVE. 



213 



effect in the two forms of contemplation and prayer, which 
mutually quicken each other, and are characteristic of the 
pious life, both individual and social. 

The Necessity of Contemplation. — The necessity of con- 
templation is borne witness to in various ways by Scripture 
and its injunctions (John 5 : 39 ; 1 Cor. 10 : 11 ; Acts 17 : 
11 : 2 Tim. 3: 14, 15 ; 2 Pet. 1 : 19). In contemplation, 
the spirit, collecting itself from amid the distracting things 
of life, breaks loose from the flood of daily thoughts, cares, 
and occupations, and brings all things into the light of the 
divine, and views them in a religious aspect. In it we in- 
clude also meditation, investigation, and reflection, and 
through contemplation we are consciously raised from time 
to time above external things, and regard them in some 
measure as God does. Contemplation arises from a believ- 
ing mental life, and is inseparable from pious mental affec- 
tions, from feelings of admiration, reverence, and thank- 
fulness, from joy, care, and pain, from sadness and longing, 
from trust and confidence. 

The Essential Nature of Contemplation. — That the es- 
sential nature of contemplation is knowledge under the 
character of edification, is shown by the fact that when 
contemplation fulfils its aim, it naturally passes over into 
prayer. For although contemplation is religious cognition 
or knowledge, it is not wholly or even chiefly taken up with 
the extension of knowledge. For Christian contemplation, 
having edification as its aim, seeks, above all things, to give 
life to the knowledge that is already possessed, and to main- 
tain the living steadfastness of the spirit in the truth. At 



214 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



the same time new views of truth are continually opening 
up of themselves. The perfection of contemplation de- 
pends partly on its inwardness and depth, an unweariedly 
renewed recurrence to the same starting-point and centre, 
and partly on its compass. 

With regard to the inwardness of contemplation, great 
examples meet us in the Mystics. How unweariedly, with 
what freshness, can a Tauler (i 290-1361) move in the same 
circle of some great thoughts that have risen in him ! Yet 
it is, above all, the word of Scripture itself that we must 
meditate upon. Of all words, none require diligent repe- 
tition in such measure as the words of eternal life, and 
there is also no other that can in like measure bear it. 

The Object of Contemplation. — The object of contem- 
plation is God and his deeds in creation and the govern- 
ment of the universe. Its most important field is history, 
especially the sacred history that is recorded in the Bible. 
But not only history, nature too is an object of religious 
contemplation for the Christian. It is true that nature is 
perishable (Rom. 8 : 20, 21) ; but still it is a sphere where 
God reveals himself (Ps. 19, 29, 33, 104, 148 ; Rom. 1 : 
20), and intercourse with it refreshes both soul and senses, 
and is therefore of great importance for the work of virtue 
in which the Christian is engaged. Our Saviour's parables 
evince his holy love of nature, and show at the same time 
how he recognizes the inner harmony that subsists between 
the first creation and the second. The third main object 
of contemplation is oneself, and all contemplation must, 
in the last resort, have reference to self-knowledge (1 Cor. 
11: 28). 



CHRISTIAN LOVE. 215 

As regards the compass of contemplation, this grows in 
completeness and fulness the more it understands and is 
able to embrace the truths of revelation, as also of the ap- 
plications thereof to life, and to the manifold phenomena 
of the world. Yet in this a danger threatens, of which 
warning must be given. Precisely in our time, which beyond 
others suffers from the desire of the phenomenal, there is a 
widespread tendency, as well in a religious as in a worldly 
direction, to enlarge the compass of contemplation at the 
expense of inwardness. But it must never be forgotten 
that for our edification, our spiritual progress, we need at 
bottom only some few but great truths, which we must live 
into again and again. It is well known that the simple and 
uneducated who read nothing but the Bible, nevertheless 
gain from it a treasure of Christian wisdom for the conduct 
of life. The great problem is to sink deeper into spiritual 
truth, and not simply to draw the greatest possible multipli- 
city into the sphere of our contemplation, greater than one is 
able to control. Even the elder Oetinger (1702-82) com- 
plains that there are many whose contemplation loses itself 
in a too great multitude and multiplicity of objects, and he 
lays down the rule, that he who loves wisdom must first and 
foremost pray God for wisdom to know what knowledge is 
the most necessary and fruitful (1.) for himself, his special 
relations and his peculiar nature; and (2.) for the period 
of time in which he was born. And this rule we can ap- 
propriate for ourselves. 

The kind and manner of Christian Contemplation in Self- 
Inspection. — On the subjective side, stillness and collected- 



2l6 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



ness are requisite, in order that the objective means — the 
word and sacraments of God, and the contemplation of na- 
ture and history, — may take effect. Christ by his example 
permits and recommends us not to be always in society, 
but to seek solitude from time to time, either in the stillness 
of nature or in the closet (Matt. 6:6; Luke 6:12; John 
6 : 15). It is no good sign for a man's conscience or for 
his spirituality, when he shuns solitude, whether it be that 
he is afraid of his own. thoughts, or because he finds self- 
contemplation to be a weariness and a duty which he has 
not strength to discharge. Self-examination and self-in- 
spection may also be steadily maintained by the use of 
diaries, — but here there are also dangers to be avoided. 
Slackness of conscience and self-love are ever ready' to 
make self-inspection an occasion for self-display, of com- 
paring ourselves with others (Luke 18: 11, 12), of self- 
complacency, and of taking a poisonous pleasure in self. 
Speaking generally, self-inspection must not degenerate 
into a magnifying of our own small importance. Nor 
does it afford any real help to the Christian merely to 
gaze unweariedly at his sins and infirmities, instead of com- 
prehending all this multiplicity in one piercing, humbling 
glance, and going with it to the true physician. Forward 
to the goal, upward to Christ — this must be the cry of him 
who is earnest about his soul. 

The Reading of Scripture by the Individual. — To read 
the Word of God for edification is quite the opposite of 
the way it is read by those who bring to it only the doubts, 
objections, and difficulties that have been diffused by an 



CHRISTIAN LO VE. 



217 



unbelieving criticism — a criticism that judges books, the 
contents of which it does not understand, because it lacks 
the requisite organ. For only he that seeks honestly and 
simply can find truth in the Bible ; and, in the strictest 
sense of the word, only the regenerate can read it to his 
edification, because he brings with him faith in Christ as 
his Saviour, in whom he has found the righteousness of 
faith ; because he brings with him his own experience of 
sin and grace, and, seeking wisdom in the Scripture, seeks 
the wisdom that is after godliness (Tit. 1:1). 

The development of contemplative virtue rests on the 
same two elements on which all sanctification rests, the 
combative and the educative. It becomes, therefore, the 
problem of a Christian to purify his thinking by means of 
the Word of God from the erroneous ideas of the natural 
man about divine things. For by nature we desire another 
God and another Redeemer than him who has actually ap- 
peared to us. Moreover, by nature we all think as did 
Nicodemus (John 3 : 4, 9), and take offence at the won- 
ders of revelation, and would interpret and explain them 
away after our own understanding. But what is needed is 
to become familiar with the Redeemer, as he is actually re- 
vealed to us, to familiarize ourselves with the thought that 
after " in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom 
knew not God, it was God's good pleasure through the 
foolishness of the preaching to save them that believe (1 Cor. 
1:21, 28). And if we allow the word to bear its testi- 
mony, God's word, through its power of truth bearing wit- 



2l8 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



ness to itself in our conscience, will constantly gain the 
victory over the wisdom of man. 

The Importance of Teaching the Whole of Scripture. — The 
Word of God contains the history of the founding of the 
kingdom of God, as well as prophetic glances into the fu- 
ture of that kingdom. It begins with the book of Begin- 
nings in the first book of Moses, and closes with the book 
of the Last Things, the revelation of John, with the last 
struggles between God's kingdom and the hostile world- 
powers, the last conclusion of peace on earth, the new 
heavens and the new earth. Edifying contemplation must 
direct its glance to the beginning and the end, in order 
rightly to understand the middle. The revelation of God 
in Christ constitutes the centre of Scripture and of Chris- 
tian contemplation, and the believing reading of the Holy 
Scripture must view the word and the facts of Holy Scrip- 
ture not only in their past meaning, but also in their per- 
manent meaning and application. But as the individual 
only stands in relation to Christ, so far as he likewise is also 
a member of Christ's kingdom, the way of contemplation 
leads from self-contemplation to the contemplation of the 
kingdom of God in the course of the ages. However ur- 
gently Christ summons to self-examination and self-knowl- 
edge, he yet constantly leads the disciples into the contem- 
plation of God's kingdom in its relation to the race. 

From a one-sided ascetic standpoint it even has been 
maintained that a Christian has no time to engage in other 
contemplations about divine things than those immediately 
concerning himself and his own salvation, so that he must 



CHRISTIAN LOVE. 



219 



only seek in the Scripture and consider what belongs to the 
order of salvation, what relates to conversion, justification, 
and sanctification. But he who so speaks and thinks must 
overlook entire and large leading passages in God's word, 
and in the Lord's own discourses. Such a one will have 
no time to tarry by those of the Lord's parables which give 
a concentrated picture of the world's history and of the 
history of God's kingdom, or have time to hear the Lord's 
prophetic discourses of the destruction of Jerusalem and 
the Last Day, his discourses of the signs of the times and 
of his Second Coming, of the different behaviour of the 
peoples of the earth to God's kingdom, of the rejection of 
Israel and his restoration in the last times, of the full num- 
ber of the Gentiles and their ingathering, not to speak of 
having no time to tarry by those great visions which are 
spread out before our view, in the Revelation of John, or 
the corresponding portions of the apostolic epistles. 

But such a view of Christianity is wrong and imperfect. 
The contents of the whole revealed will of God must be 
the object of our contemplation. The individual is only 
a member, a citizen of the whole kingdom, and can there- 
fore also only become perfected with the whole kingdom of 
God on earth. Precisely in our days the state of the world 
and world-events in a high degree summon us to bestow the 
greatest attention on the teachings of Scripture about the 
relation and position of God's kingdom to the world. 

But from self-contemplation, as from the contemplation 
of the world and the kingdom of God, we are ever again 
led back to him in whom lie hidden all treasures of wisdom 



220 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



and knowledge (Col. 2 : 3), and " who was made unto us 
wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctifi cation, 
and redemption" (1 Cor. 1 : 30). 

Thankfulness and Admiration. — There rre two chief 
feelings which are combined with contemplative love, and 
which we should nourish and develop in us amid our con- 
sideration of the divine Word, — thankfulness and unbound- 
ed admiration. Whatever way contemplation may take, it 
is always brought back to what God has given us, to the 
riches of his grace and mercy. And whatever feelings of 
sadness and sorrow, whatever grief of heart at sin's power 
may be awakened by contemplation, yet the main evangeli- 
cal feeling remains, an unbounded thankfulness for God's 
unfathomable grace and mercy to us (1 John 4 : 19). But 
mo<=t closely connected with this is the unbounded ador- 
ing admiration of the perfections of his being, as these are 
revealed in his wonderful works, not only in the miracle of 
creation, but especially in the miracle of the new creation 
(Rom. 11 : 33, 36). 

Both the feelings mentioned are closely akin, but in thank- 
fulness the thought of one's own soul, the thought of per- 
sonal salvation asserts itself, while this momentarily disap- 
pears in the feeling of admiration, in self-forgetfulness at 
the radiance of God's glory. Were we to name an exam- 
ple of contemplation in which both of these elements are 
present in the most perfect union and mutual penetra- 
tion, we would especially point to the form of contempla- 
tion appearing in the Apostle John. In Paul also we find 
adoration and thankfulness in most intimate union, only 



CHRISTIAN LOVE. 



221 



that contemplation appears with him in another form, 
namely, united with reflection, the dialectic activity, where- 
by he affords us a deep insight into sin and grace, as these 
are revealed in the life of the individual, as well as also in 
the life of the race. These are tne two apostles to whom 
are to be traced the beginning and roots of all know- 
ledge of all speculation in the Church. 

The Relation of Contemplative to Mystical Love. — Con- 
templative intercourse with God points back to intercourse 
of the heart with God, and therewith to mystical communion 
with him, a communion not in mere thoughts, but in life 
and in personal existence. Essentially this communion is 
already present in living faith, but the further develop- 
ment of this mystical communion is only accomplished 
when contemplation and meditation develop into prayer ; 
and as it is prayer by which in practical life the blessing is 
conditioned, the same is also the condition of all blessing 
in the contemplative life. Where prayer grows dumb, 
there also will the inner springs of adoring admiration and 
of pious thankfulness grow dry, and then contemplation 
will also wither. Contemplation must pass through the 
school of prayer and experience to gain the right life ; 
while, on the other hand, it must be said that by true con- 
templation prayer is anew awakened and nourished. 



222 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



SECTION VI. 

MYSTICAL LOVE. 

Communion with God. — The Christian life ever anew seeks 
immediate communion with God, a holy meeting of the 
soul with God, in order to be strengthened and confirmed 
in the inner man. This repeated union with the living pre- 
sent God takes place in prayer and in the Sacrament of 
the Lord's Supper. In prayer we speak with God, pour 
out our heart before him, thank and praise him, and the 
inmost truth of our personality opens and unfolds itself be- 
fore his face. Prayer, therefore, is love itself in its living 
expression. One form only of union with God and the 
Saviour is still more intimate, still higher and deeper 
than in prayer, namely, the sacramental union in the Lord's 
Supper, as the holy of holies of our faith, where the Lord 
Christ himself communicates to us his body and his blood. 
But this Sacrament itself must be partaken in a prayerful 
frame. 

Fuller Definition of Prayer} — The simplest definition of 
prayer is that it is the conversation of the soul with God 
as a present Being ; not a monologue, as was the prayer of 
the Pharisee in the temple, who "prayed with himself " 
(Luke 18: n). In numberless passages the New Testa- 
ment exhorts us to prayer, Matt. 6 : 5 ; 26 : 41 ; Luke 18 : 
1 ; John 16 : 23 ; 1 John 3 : 19-22 ; Rom. 8 : 26. Christ 
himself prayed in the form of petition, thanksgiving, and 
praise, Matt. 11 : 25 ; 14 : 23 ; Luke 6:12; Matt. 26 : 36, 

1 Compare Dorner, $ 53. 



MYSTICAL LOVE. 



223 



39, 42, 44; John 11 : 41 ; 17 : 1-26. Prayer is the speci- 
fic means of growth in the inner life. Other things may 
stimulate us to use the power we already have, but prayer 
increases our stock of spiritual life by drawing down upon 
us in richer measure the fulness of the Holy Spirit, and 
thus making our human life divine. Thus it is a means of 
virtue in quite a special sense, and not merely a manifesta- 
tion of the life already possessed. But prayer is only in 
so far a laying hold and appropriation of God, as it is like- 
wise a sacrifice ; and we can only receive God into us, 
when we likewise give ourselves to him. He who offers no 
sacrifice in his prayer, who does not sacrifice his self-will, 
does not really pray. By such a sacrifice, in which self- 
will dies, room is gained within for God the Lord, whose 
place within us is otherwise occupied by the selfish desires, 
the world, and its lusts. 

Hindrances to Prayer. — Doubt of the power of prayer is 
the first hindrance (James 1:6). But even when we pray 
in faith, certain hindrances remain to be overcome ; and 
the more earnestly we pray, the more must we also strive 
in prayer. But further, in learning to pray aright, watch- 
fulness is a great assistance. " Watch and pray " — self-re- 
collection ; Matt. 26: 41; 1 Pet. 5 : 8; 1 Cor. 16: 13. 
Watchfulness and sobriety of mind remind us at once of 
our own weakness and of the power and love of God. 
The dominion of the life of prayer and the dominion of 
the lower senses always stand in inverse relation to each 
other. We must also combat distraction (which is the op- 
posite of internal collectedness), dullness, dryness, and the 



224 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



spirit which shuts itself up within itself. But when these 
hindrances are happily overcome, then begins the main 
struggle, — to sacrifice our own will to God) that God may- 
give us his Holy Spirit. 

Cultivation of the Gift of Prayer. — The cultivation* of 
the gift of prayer dare not, any more than the gift of medi- 
tative contemplation, be left to accident or mere inclina- 
tion, — for in that case prayer would far too often be omit- 
ted. It must become a probTem to every Christian to edu- 
cate himself for prayer, by subjecting prayer to a rule, a 
discipline. True, it may be said that the praying spirit 
must be given us ; but it may be maintained just as well that 
the praying spirit must be sought. And we can only learn 
to pray by praying, however awkward our attempts may be. 
Our Lord himself has given us a model of prayer, and next 
to this the Psalms of David are a guide and help to prayer, 
which the Christians of all ages have used, the Holy Spirit 
teaching them to conceive and understand the prayers of 
the Old Testament in an evangelical manner. Good Chris- 
tian hymns also, composed by such as were themselves earn- 
est in prayer, may in this be of great service to us, and 
give us guidance as well how to pray as also how we should 
give thanks. 

Prayer in the Name of Jesus. — Prayer comes ever nearer 
to its perfection in proportion as it becomes a prayer in the 
name of Jesus. In so doing, we put ourselves by faith in- 
to Christ, into his place ; in such wise that we beseech him 
to embrace us in his love as our substitute, or to pray for us, 
and thus be what Scripture calls our mediator or interces- 



* 



MYSTICAL LOVE. 225 

sor with the Father (Rom. 8 : 26, 34). Very numerous 
passages of Scripture describe the value of prayer in the 
name of Jesus, and its acceptation with God (John 14: 13, 
14; 15 : 16; 16: 23, 24). Prayer in Christ's name is there- 
fore prayer proceeding from our fellowship with Christ and 
Christ's fellowship with us, so that we enter into his mind 
and spirit. As regards the contents of prayer, it will be a 
prayer in the cause of Jesus, the great cause of his king- 
dom, and for this the Lord's Prayer is and remains the 
typical prayer. When we pray though our Lord's prayer, 
the imperfection of our prayer very often lies in this, that 
we do not tarry enough at the single petitions, do not go 
deeply enough into the depth of the riches of the single 
petitions. 

Although we thus pray in words that the Lord has taught 
us, this by no means excludes but rather involves that we 
also pray with our own words. The prayer delivered to us 
by the Lord must be individualized in us, corresponding to 
our special states and relations. But while individualizing 
prayer is uttered in our own words, there are also states in 
the Christian life such that our feelings and frames can find 
no expression in words, as we know not how fo pray as we 
ought. Then the Spirit helps our infirmity, and makes 
himself known in groanings that cannot be uttered (Rom. 
8 : 26). 

Petition with Intercession. — Christian prayer has two 
chief forms, according as it is meant to express a need or 
joy at the satisfaction of a need. It is petition or thanks- 
giving. With Christ petition and thanksgiving were never 
16 



226 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS, 



separated. In the very act of asking for anything, it was 
his custom to give thanks. 

Petitionary prayer, offered in the name of Jesus, excludes 
three errors. 

(i.) There are some who indeed regard faith as neces- 
sary to prayer, but only in the general sense of trusting 
that God will do all things well. They therefore deny that 
prayer should refer to anything defi7iite and particular. 
According Jo them, submission alone is Christian ; to apply 
the divine promise to any particular thing is presumption. 
But this would make the life of the Christian poor and 
colourless, and deprive him of much blessing and comfort. 
The New Testament speaks quite differently. It tells us 
we should be related to God as children to a father (Matt. 
7: 7-1 1 ; Rom. 8 : 15 ; Gal. 4: 6). No barriers prevent 
us from bringing all our concerns before God. One thing 
only is demanded, that our prayer be offered in the name 
of Christ, and that our wishes be purified by our fellow- 
ship with Christ. 

(2.) There are others who conceive of God as compelled 
by prayer to answer their petition. They simply lay stress 
on the promise of Christ and adhere to the fact that Christ 
has said, " whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I 
do" (John 14: 13). But such a spirit is not praying in 
the name of Christ, nor Christ-like, ("not as I will, but as 
thou wilt," Matt. 26 : 39,) but is irreverent and unchild- 
like. 

(3.) There are still others who are not satisfied with the 
grace of God (2 Cor. 12 : 9 ;) they are not satisfied with 



MYSTICAL LOVE. 



227 



saving grace, that they are children of God, but desire in 
prayer the extraordinary gifts of God's grace. They do 
not understand what humility in prayer means, — they for- 
get that our Lord has not only warned us of the pride of 
the Pharisee, but also against ambition, which often occurs 
in believing disciples, who desire that God would give them 
a prominent position before others (Mark 10: 35-40). 
Our Lord, once for all, has rejected all ambitious prayers, 
although that ambition may give itself out as a holy ambi- 
tion. Nor are we to long for signs and wonders, as a fruit 
of prayer, or for raptures, visions, and revelations in prayer. 

Petitionary prayer, if only it be offered in the name of 
Jesus, may have reference also to bodily wants, — as we see 
from the Lord's Prayer, — although these must come in their 
proper place. But a test of the purity of all our petition- 
ary prayers is whether they contain intercession for our neigh- 
bor, for the Church, and for all men. This shows if the 
individual be concerned about the whole kingdom of God. 
Without intercession prayer becomes egoistic, the view and 
the heart become narrow. When piety lacks expansion, 
it also lacks intensive force, — and then our prayer is not 
prayer in the name of Jesus our Head. 

Prayer must be joined with Thanksgiving. — The more 
our heart's prayer both begins and ends with thanksgiving, 
the more complete it is. Here^ too, both the universal and 
the particular must be made the subject of thanksgiving. 
The test of the purity of this form of prayer is whether 
we give thanks for the good that happens to others as well 
as for that which happens to ourselves. This makes thanks- 



228 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



giving the Christian's victory over envy, jealousy, and 
pride. Thanksgiving, moreover, shows the measure of our 
gratitude, and gratitude of our humility. Where there 
is ingratitude there is also much pride. 

The Form of Prayer* — Is it sufficient that prayer exist 
inward'. y, as a longing, and inward emotion or affection ? 
Can it serve any purpose to clothe our prayer in words and 
give outward expression before God, aloud or in a whisper, 
when we know that God looks into the heart, and knows 
all our desires as well as all our wants? (Matt. 6 : 8). The 
inward emotion must indeed be the first thing, though it 
be no more than desire to be enabled to pray. But when 
this emotion does not clothe itself in definite thoughts and 
words, prayer is still imperfect, not in intensity, but in 
definiteness, — although it is not always possible in the 
stress of circumstances to clothe our prayer in thoughts 
and words (Rom. 8: 26). When prayer remains entirely 
inward, it is prone to be crossed by a world of prayerless 
thoughts ; but when expressed in words it draws our scat- 
tered thoughts more together, and presses our energies into 
its service. It is also beneficial to set apart our accustomed 
place of prayer as a holy spot, to surround it as with a 
sacred circle, and thus to make it a temple in the true sense. 
Every study should be such a temple, from which we look 
out to heaven and upon the world. 

The Lord's Supper. — As public worship finds its echo in 
private worship, so again all private worship must lead back 
to public to^common prayer, and to that which forms the 
1 Compare Dorner, \ 53. 



MYSTICAL LOVE. 229 

summit of the Christian life, namely, the Lord's Supper, 
— the- highest blessing that can be appropriated by us. 
For all that Christ has done and suffered for us, all that he 
has been and continually will be for us, all his promises to 
his Church, are here imparted to us, and concentrated into 
a single moment. It is surely something unutterably great, 
that in the Supper, the Lord gives us his body and blood, 
to confirm the forgiveness of our sins. This is the first 
thing we seek in the Lord's Supper, and without this all 
the rest would not prove a blessing to us. But between 
the holy Supper and the resurrection of the body and eter- 
nal life there exists a deep and close connection. " He 
that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal 
life ; and I will raise him up at the last day " (John 6: 54). 
In the Lord's Supper there occurs a secret union between a 
holy mystery of the Spirit and a holy mystery of nature. 
For the whole undivided Christ gives himself in the Lord's 
Supper as nourishment, not merely for the soul, but for the 
whole new man ; and so, too, for the future man of the 
resurrection. That the Holy Scripture puts the Supper in 
connection with the Last Things is clear not only from the 
words of the Apostle, "For as often as ye eat this bread, 
and drink the cup, ye proclaim the Lord's death till he 
come" (1 Cor. 11 : 26), but also from the words of the 
Lord himself, "I will not drink henceforth of this fruit 
of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you 
in my Father's kingdom" (Matt. 26: 29); for however 
these words may in detail be expounded, they at any rate 
make known that the Supper is a pre-representation and 



230 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS, 



anticipation of that union with the Lord which shall one 
day take place in the kingdom of bliss ; and not only of 
union with the Lord, but also of the deep communion of 
love and life, which in that blessed kingdom will bind 
believers to each other. For by means of the Supper 
believers are fused into one body, since they all, as the 
apostle says, "partake of the one bread " (1 Cor. 10 : 17). 
In this Supper, which points back to baptism, we are not 
only nourished, not only renewed, and that in a most real 
manner, in communion with the Lord, in the covenant and 
state of grace, but also in communion with the Christian 
Church ; and not merely with the local church, not merely 
with our fellow-Christians, husband and wife, parents and 
children, who are here more inwardly united with each 
other, but with the whole Christian congregation of the 
living and the dead; while we, by means of Christ, the 
true heavenly vine, are mysteriously united with the true 
congregation of the saints, not only on earth, but also in 
heaven. 

Worthy Partaking of the Lord's Supper. — What is a 
worthy partaking of the Lord's Supper? (1 Cor. n : 29). 
We answer, that partaking is unworthy that occurs with an 
unbelieving, unholy, and impenitent heart, to which what 
is holy is indifferent. Worthy is that partaking which is 
entered upon with a longing to be renewed, and to com- 
mune with the Lord ; which takes place in repentance and 
faith, with which an honest purpose of amendment is 
united. Therefore a previous self-examination is neces- 
sary, in order that the consciousness of sin and guilt, with 



MYSTICAL LOVE. 231 

the godly sorrow of repentance, may be awakened within 
us, that we may rightly feel how urgently necessary it is 
to believe in the grace of God in Christ, and that genuine 
assurance of faith may awake in the heart. And then, it 
also belongs to the true partaking of the Supper that we do 
so not only prayerfully but also thankfully, thanking the 
Lord for all his wondrous blessings bestowed on us in the 
kingdom of nature and of grace. And if we require re- 
pentance and faith, we would not thereby reject weak and 
imperfect faith, or else we would be in danger of rejecting 
also the word of the Lord, " him that cometh to me I will 
in no wise cast out " (John 6 : 37), and " A bruised reed 
shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench " 
(Matt. 12 : 20). And when we prepare ourselves for the 
sacrament of reconciliation, in order to make our peace 
with God, we should then likewise stir up our heart to 
make our peace with men. There are Christian families in 
which husband and wife, parents and children, brothers 
and sisters, mutually beg forgiveness and forgive each 
other, ere they partake of the Lord's Supper. And if this 
do not always take place expressly and visibly, yet it must 
always take place in the mind and in secret. 



232 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



SECTION VII. 

PRACTICAL LOVE. 

Is Devotion to the Ideal of God' 's Kingdom. — As the love 
of Christ himself was not only contemplative and adoring, 
but also active and suffering love, the same must also be 
shown as a copy by his followers. Practical love in follow- 
ing Christ may be more closely defined as a ministering 
devotion to the ideal of God's kingdom, which is to be 
realized within the kingdom of humanity. And while a 
Christian works for that, he likewise himself aims to be- 
come a man " perfect in Christ" (i Cor. i : 28). But 
work for God's kingdom and for that of human life can 
gain no definite form in the individual Christian otherwise 
than through personal devotion to a calling appointed by 
God. 

To the first disciples there was appointed primarily the 
missionary activity. But within Christendom, work now 
may and should be done for the kingdom of God in every 
truly human calling. Every Christian ought to know how 
to unite his heavenly with his earthly calling, and ought 
to help in spreading a knowledge of the kingdom of God. 

Love to Men. — Enthusiasm and labor for God's kingdom 
includes philanthropy, both universal and individual, love 
to the race, as well as to single individuals, — and the indi- 
vidual ought not to be loved as the isolated individual, but 
as one who is likewise a member of the great social whole, 
as one who has either already become or is destined to be- 
come a citizen of God's kingdom. 



PRACTICAL LOVE. 



233 



Love to My Neighbor. — My neighbor is every man, be- 
cause God made the human race to spring from one blood, 
and we are thus all members of the body of humanity. 
But in a special sense he is my neighbor who is placed 
nearer me, or who approaches me with a claim of love, or 
else with a service of love. This is the teaching of the 
Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke, 10: 30-37). My 
neighbor is he who needs my help, and precisely my help, 
bodily or spiritual ; but my neighbor is also he who benefits 
me, whether in a bodily or spiritual respect. " My neigh- 
bor" is the unfortunate who needs the Samaritan, and the 
Samaritan that benefits the unfortunate. 

True love of man is founded on love to God. If we 
love God, we must also love what he loves, his image on 
earth, which God expressly commands us to love. A special 
kind of relation, however, is formed to the men with whom 
we are joined in the same faith in the Lord. Here broth- 
erly love awakens, in that we not only feel ourselves branch- 
es on the great tree of the human race, but also as tendrils 
of Christ, as members of Christ's spiritual body, of his 
Church. Here the order holds good, that Christian broth- 
erly love will especially embrace those who are the very 
nearest to us, the Christians of our Church fellowship ; but 
it is also to extend to the Christians of other confessions, 
who build with us on the same one Foundation. 

The Pattern of Ministering Love. — All love of man that 
follows the example of Christ is ministering love, intent on 
self-denial and self-sacrifice to promote the welfare of man. 
Our pattern is shown us in the person of Christ, who in his 



234 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



ministering service towards men seeks only to perform the 
will of his Father. But Christ, in his ministering revela- 
tion of love, is himself the personal truth and righteous- 
ness, and perfectly fulfils the will of God. Therefore all 
ministering philanthropy that walks in the footsteps of 
Christ, must show itself in truth and righteousness. A love 
that leaves out of account the truth, or a love that injures 
righteousness, is ever but an impure love, and lawless. And 
as Christ's love, in its living unity with truth -and right- 
eousness, is in its inmost essence God's fiityi7ig grace that 
came down to us to seek and to save the lost, and as we 
ourselves have experienced so great mercy, Christian phil- 
anthropy must also show itself as mercy, in deep and in- 
ward sympathy with all human misery and distress, and 
reveal itself in works of mercy. 

Philanthropy and Love of Truth. — Only on the basis of 
truth can an enduring union be formed between men, and 
only on this basis can men have communion with each 
other, and repose confidence in each other. Only in 
Christ, and in the light proceeding from him, can we love 
men in the true sense, and only then does philanthropy 
receive its deepest religious and moral character, when it 
is rooted in the truth of Christ. Zeal for the truth of 
Christ, and for the Gospel of Christ, is thus the first re- 
quirement which must be made, if philanthropy is to be 
exercised in the highest, spiritual relations of human life. 
And there is no Christian life of which it is not required 
somehow to bear witness to the heavenly truth. In a spe- 
cial sense it is the duty of preachers, pastors, and teachers 



PRACTICAL LOVE. 



235 



of the Church, to be witnesses to the truth, and as minis- 
ters of the Word to propagate the testimony of Christ 
from generation to generation, but in a larger sense every 
Christian ought, in respect to the universal priesthood be- 
longirg to him, to proclaim and show forth the excellen- 
cies of him who has called us out of darkness into his mar- 
velous light (1 Pet. 2 : 9). 

Distinction between the Truth and our subjective Opin- 
ions. — When the duty of truthfulness is insisted on, it is 
customary to add the restriction, — one should speak the 
truth, according to his best conviction. But of what sort 
is the conviction of the majority of men, especially in ref- 
erence to the things of God ? Genuine conviction and cer- 
tainty only spring from this, that the truth itself has its 
being in me, and is fused into my personality. Therefore 
Christ is the only True One ; for the truth is one with his 
person (John 14: 6). In our duty to speak the truth the 
requirement is contained that we should personally be true y 
that the truth have purified us within, that the Spirit that 
leads us into all truth has made his abode within us. Only 
when the Spirit of truth bears witness to our spirit, and 
testifies with it (Rom. 8: 16), can we be said to be con- 
vinced ; therefore we must incessantly purify the foundation 
of our conviction, and develop in us love to the truth. At 
the great day we shall not be judged by this, whether we 
have spoken and acted according to conviction ; but our 
convictions themselves, as well as the ways by which, the 
mode and manner in which we attained to them, are then 
to be judged. And who does not have his convictions ? 



236 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



And yet, as a rule, the religious, political, philosophical, 
and aesthetic conviction of people means nothing more than 
opinions, to which they at some time give their approval, 
but which have no root in their personality. When Paul 
persecuted the Christian Church he certainly acted from 
conviction, yet it was only a fanatical conviction, which he 
afterwards himself condemned as sin. 

Limits to the duty of Truthfulness. — That limits are set 
even to the duty of truthfulness is implied in this, that it is 
becoming to speak the truth not otherwise than with wis- 
dom, and that it may be our duty, according to time and 
circumstances, to be reserved with the truth (Eccl. 3 : 7). 
No one is bound to say everything to everybody. No 
teacher or preacher is bound to speak the whole entire 
truth to his hearers at once ; but is required to consider 
in this the receptivity of the hearers, and must lead them 
gradually to the knowledge of the truth (John 16: 12; 
Matt. 7: 6). 

Is the so-called Lie of Necessity, Justifiable ? — This im- 
portant question has been variously answered. Basil the 
Great {d. 379) rejects every lie of necessity, while Chrys- 
ostom {d. 407) defends it. Augustine (d. 430) condemns 
it most decidedly, and says that if even the whole human 
race could be saved by one lie, one must rather let it per 
ish ; Jerome {d. 420), again, finds the lie of necessity ad- 
missible. Calvin will on no account hear of it; while 
Luther calls it not good indeed, but yet excuses it in cer- 
tain cases as admissible. 



PRACTICAL LOVE. 



237 



Nitzsch 1 maintains that the falsehood of necessity and of 
love when consummated is ever, under favorable circum- 
stances, still a sign either of wisdom which is defective in 
love and confidence, or of a love which is deficient in wis- 
dom, — that as an exception from the rule, a lie of necessity 
is also a sin of necessity, and consequently is sin, — that no 
concrete case can be pointed out where those who lie or 
falsify from affection could not have acted more wisely and 
affectionately without such falsehood. And although Mar- 
tensen maintains that in certain difficult cases an ' ' untruth 
from necessity " may occur, which is to be allowed for the 
sake of human weakness, and under the given relations 
may be said to be justified and dutiful, — still he holds that 
in every such untruth there is something of sin, something 
that must be forgiven. He further maintains that the lie 
of necessity which we call inevitable, leaves in us the feel- 
ing of something unworthy, and this unworthiness should, 
in following Christ, more and more disappear from our life, 
— and that a lie of necessity cannot occur with a person- 
ality that is found in possession of full courage, and of per- 
fect love and holiness. Schleiermacher, who absolutely 
rejects the lie of necessity, lays down the rule, that we 
ought so to order our relations of life, that the necessity to 
use a lie of exigency cannot occur with us, so that no one 
ventures to propose a question to us that should not be put, 
or in case it is still proposed to us, it can be set aside with- 
out a lie of necessity. 

The Oath. — The oath presupposes the fact that in hu- 

1 In his System of Christian Doctrine, $172. 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



man society the love of man and the love of truth are but 
very imperfect ; it presupposes that men lack confidence in 
each other, and that their love of truth, their respect and 
reverence for the truth, in many cases need to be supported 
by the extraordinary means of the oath. But while the 
introduction of the oath into human society and its use 
arises from a distrust of men, it presupposes as well a trust 
in men, namely, that when placed before God's face they 
will feel moved to speak the truth. 

The various kinds of oaths make no essential difference 
to the idea of an oath. 1 A distinction is made between 
civil oaths and religious oaths. Both of these classes are 
again divided into judicial and private oaths. According 
to their occasion or their contents, oaths are partly those of 
conviction (where a subjective conviction concerning some 
matter is stated on oath, as before a jury), and partly cor- 
roborative. The latter are either negative, — oaths of purga- 
tion, for the purpose of rebutting and assertion, — or posi- 
tive, assertory oaths. Among the latter are oaths con- 
nected with the giving of evidence and with promises, the 
oath of citizenship, of office, and of allegiance, as well as 
cases where a confession of faith is accompanied with an 
oath and a vow or promise. 

The oath has been regarded under the aspect both of a 
covenant with God, and of a religious confession. It has a 
certain kinship to prayer, in so far as the swearer, like him 
who prays, is withdrawn from all finite relations and placed 
before God's face. We may say that the essential nature 

1 Compare also Dorner>\ 67, 



PRACTICAL LOVE. 



239 



of an oath consists in this — that he who makes it brings his 
statement into connection with the thought of God, and makes 
confession that he is speaking before God in all good con- 
science (Dorner). 

As a guarantee for truthfulness, the oath has a shielding 
and protecting, a defensive and preventive, a truth-com- 
pelling meaning. From the standpoint of the ideal, from 
the standpoint of God's kingdom, considered in its per- 
fection, the oath must be rejected as something superfluous, 
as something that cannot occur in the communion of saints, 
as something that belongs to lower circles of life. In this 
we find the ground for the utterance of Christ in the Ser- 
non on the Mount (Matt. 5 : 33-36; compare James 5 : 
12). The meaning of Christ's teaching has been much 
disputed, but what Christ says is, that in swearing by finite 
things we are in reality swearing by God, and that we ought 
not to swear at all. Hence it need not surprise us that 
such parties as the Quakers and Mennonites reject oath- 
taking altogether. And there is much to countenance this 
position. For where oath-taking is practiced, the duty of 
telling the truth when not upon our oath seems to be put 
lower than the duty of telling it when upon oath. In ad- 
dition to this it seems as if the honor of the Christian is 
affected. He speaks the truth plainly and simply ; to de- 
mand an oath from him implies mistrust of his simple asser- 
tion, and therefore, if he is really a Christian, his honor 
seems to be injured. 

But in answer to all this, we must also admit that Christ 
himself on various occasions confirmed his words with an 



240 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



"Amen, Amen;" and that when the High Priest adjured 
him to speak the truth upon an oath which he proposed, 
Jesus replied, " Thou hast said " (Matt. 26: 63, 64). Simi- 
larly we find Paul also frequently making asseverations 
(Rom. 1 : 9 ; 9 : 1 ; 2 Cor. 1 : 23 ; n : '31 ; 12 : 2 ; 1 
Thess. 2 : 5, 10; 1 Tim. 5 : 21). In Heb. 6: 16, an oath 
is said to end all strife. Further, in the Old Testament, 
oaths are spoken of as acts that are moral, or are even 
legally enjoined, and God is described as swearing by him- 
self (Ex. 22: 11 j Num. 14: 21 ; Ps. 89: 3, 4; no: 4; 
Isa. 45 : 23 ; Ezek. 33: n). In fact, it cannot be shown 
why there should be anything wrong in an oath, if the truth 
cannot be otherwise be made credible ; for if it is sincerely 
taken, it bears witness to the solemn fact that God is remem- 
bered in connection with the statement that is made. More- 
over, where oaths are administered, it does not necessarily 
follow that statements not made upon oath have their value 
lowered, or that the spirit of truthfulness in general is weak- 
ened. Means can be devised to obviate these dangers 
without forbidding oaths entirely. But at the same time 
we must always endeavor to render oaths less frequent, and 
more and more indispensable. Consequently, the sayings 
of Christ directed against oaths must be understood as fol- 
lows. Oaths ought to be strictly excluded as between 
Christians, because, although they are sincerely taken, they 
are nevertheless superfluous. They are rightly employed 
only, when at the same time the duty of truthfulness in 
general is enforced in such a way as to make the taking of 
oaths itself a step towards rendering them no longer neces- 



PRACTICAL LOVE. 



241 



sary. From what has been said it follows that an increase 
in the frequency of oaths is a disgrace to a Christian com- 
monwealth. 

Proper Conditions under which an Oath may be taken. — 
The first condition is, that the oath be taken only in virtue 
of a due requisition \ secondly, that it must not be taken 
without well- tested conviction ; thirdly, no one must be 
compelled to take an oath ; for if swearing be altogether 
contrary to a man's moral sense, then if he did swear, he 
would sin against himself. 

Nothing immoral can become a duty by having an 
oath attached to it. To be willing for the oath's sake to 
fulfil ungodly obligations, is merely to carry on the wick- 
edness begun to a wicked completion, and to the first impi- 
ety to join the second. The non-fulfilment of what has 
been sworn is in such cases not a breach of an oath well- 
pleasing to God, but the penitent revocation of a God- 
displeasing oath. Actual perjury, on the contrary, i. e. 
the violation of what has been sworn to, — a lie under the 
sworn assertion of the truth — is therefore a sin so speci- 
fically terrible, because it is the most open and conscious 
form of mockery, not only of the truth itself, but of God. 
He who swears falsely, swears judgment to himself. 

Speak the Truth Always. — "Putting away falsehood, 
speak ye truth each one with his neighbor " (Eph. 4 : 25). 
This command can be carried through in the various rela- 
tions of life only in the measure that the personality itself 
is a true and pure one. The apostle also requires that no 
corrupt speech proceed out of the mouth of the Christian 
17 



242 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



(Eph. 4 : 29), and that his speech should be always with 
grace, seasoned with salt, that he may know how to answer 
every man (Col. 4 : 6), whereby he requires that also a cer- 
tain beauty of soul be expressed in speech. And our Lord 
himself says, that men shall give account in the day of 
judgment for every idle or unbecoming word they may 
have spoken (Matt. 12 : 36). This warning against un- 
becoming, improper words, and the reference to the day 
of judgment, ought to fill our souls with holy fear. For 
a man's words and a man's works are, as it were, an em- 
bodiment of that which dwells within him, are like a mirror 
in which the deepest mind of a man, his position of heart 
to God and to the truth is reflected. 

Philanthropy and Love of Righteousness. — As the love of 
man is inseparably connected with love of truth, it is so 
likewise with the love of righteousness. This love of 
righteousness is love of the righteousness of Christ, who is 
already designated in the Old Testament as " the Right- 
eous Servant of the Lord " (Isa. 53 : 11), who carries out 
God's cause on earth, and for the sake of this his work has 
undergone such great sufferings. In loving him as right- 
eousness, we love him even as love itself. For righteous- 
ness is love filled with truth, ordered by wisdom. Right- 
eousness requires that all and each be loved according to 
its true worth. It opposes all false and inordinate love, 
and unveils all seeming worthiness. As the personal right- 
eousness Christ has entered into a world of unrighteous- 
ness, he has appeared to erect again the true kingdom of 
righteousness in the heart of men, which is not different 



PRACTICAL LOVE. 



243 



from the kingdom of truth and love, a kingdom which 
must continually fight its way through great humiliation 
and misconception, and will only be completed in " the 
new heavens and the new earth, wherein dwelleth right- 
eousness " (2 Pet. 3: 13), — which means not only that 
righteous men will dwell there, but that there all will be 
in its right place and in its right order. 

The love of man in following Christ must therefore not 
only testify of the truth of Christ, but also work for his 
righteous cause on earth, for which we are only fit when 
we yield ourselves to the Spirit who " convicts the world 
in respect of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment " 
(John 16: 8), but never ceases to be the Spirit of grace 
and love. Not only with words, but especially also through 
work and walk, as well in private as in public life, must a 
Christian, according to the measure of his calling and his 
gifts, co-operate for this, that the righteous cause of Christ 
may be upheld and advanced. The gospel and the king- 
dom of Christ make an ideal, a higher, a spiritual claim 
of right, not merely on individuals, but on the communi- 
ty ; not merely on the Church, as far as its guidance is 
committed to human hands ; but also on the State, the fam- 
ily, and the school. But the truth and the cause of Christ 
are constantly "held down in unrighteousness" (Rom. 
1 : 18). In the struggle which never ceases in human so- 
ciety, between those who are endeavoring to carry out their 
own unrighteousness and that of the world, — in this strug- 
gle every Christian must stand at his post, in the position 
and in the calling wherein he is called. 



244 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



Righteousness extends to all Departments of Life. — With- 
out righteousness no human social relation is conceivable. 
It is by no means limited to the mere external sphere of 
justice, although it has here, no doubt, its chief sphere. 
Not only in civil life are we to respect the personal rights 
of our neighbor, his life and his health, his property and 
his honor ; we are not merely to guard and keep in all civil 
relations most conscientiously the limit prescribed by the 
law, show probity, honesty, and honor in dealing and 
walk ; in no business, in no relation, take advantage of our 
neighbor ; abhor all fraud, not only in the coarse but also 
the fine, which in our days has developed itself to an in- 
credible extent, and which is even practised by people of 
whom one would not expect it. But righteousness must 
extend to all departments of life ; for in each of them it 
is required, even in a higher, in the religious and moral 
sense, that we do to men what is right, and give them what 
is theirs. 

The more closely we examine this subject, the clearer it 
becomes, that righteousness can only gain the right char- 
acter of spirituality by means of love, and that all right- 
eousness must be exercised in the spirit of love and kind- 
ness. Love itself is the deepest claim of right which we, 
as members of one single great family of men, have on 
each other. Therefore we are ever to remain indebted in 
love one to another (Rom. 13 : 8, 10). 

The Unity of '. Righteousness and Love. — This unity of 
righteousness and love which we have in view, is the true 
humanity in the relation between man and man. It may 



PRACTICAL LOVE. 245 

be evinced in all social relations bat it especially unfolds its 
fulness in relation to the inequalities in human society. To 
abolish the necessary difference in society is by no means 
the object of Christian humanity, — for this would be op- 
posed to righteousness, which requires differences, superi- 
ority and subordination. Christianity does not seek to 
abolish the necessary inequality that exists between masters 
and servants, between teachers and scholars, between su- 
periors and subordinates, between rich and poor; and it 
will just as little set aside the differences of human indivi- 
dualities, and of human talents, the differences between the 
highly gifted and the less gifted. Amid all these inequali- 
ties, Christian humanity endeavors to bring forward the 
essential quality of man, seeks everywhere the man, the 
free personality in the image of God, — it seeks to har- 
monize these inequalities, which so often sunder men in 
enmity, to a free mutual relation, in which is to be devel- 
oped a behaviour of mutual service, affording help and 
support, mutual deficiencies, such as can never be brought 
to pass by any compulsion of law. Just because righteous- 
ness teaches us to regard love as a debt which we constant- 
ly owe to each other, so Christian love is essentially to be 
conceived under the point of need of service to which we 
are bound in mutual self-sacrifice and self-denial. We are 
to serve one another. And not only are the lower classes 
to serve the higher, but the higher, yea, even those in the 
highest places, are called to serve those beneath them. 
This proposition is formally acknowledged by all, yet in 
actual life it is too often" denied. " He that is the greater 



246 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



among you, let him become as the younger ; and he that 
is chief, as he that doth serve " (Luke 22 : 26). 

Politeness. — Politeness appears in social life as the mere- 
ly formal side of human conduct, and may be regarded as 
a shadow of ministering love. In the forms of politeness 
men testify to each other their respect, and make known 
that they are each other's "servants," by visible signs of 
devotion, and by behaving to each other respectfully and 
with attention. And politeness still remains a symbol of 
love, in so far as it points to a universal principle, whose 
power over men asserts itself externally, even when they 
allow it no entrance into their hearts. 

But the true spirit of ministering love and politeness is 
yet only produced by the spirit of the love of Christ, is 
only produced in those who believe in the Redeemer, who 
came not to be ministered unto, but himself to minister 
(Matt. 20: 28), and who on that last evening washed his 
disciples' feet for an example to them. True humanity in its 
lowest as well as in its highest forms is Christian humanity. 

There is a deep significance in human greetings, not only 
from the way and manner in which we greet, but specially 
from the words employed in doing so. The Greek view of 
life attains expression in the " Chaire," i. e. Joy to Thee. 
Joy in life, in its glory and splendor, this to the Greek was 
the highest good. The more practical Roman view of life 
clearly resounds in its " Salve " (May you be well) and in 
its " Vale " (Be healthy). The Romans wished each other 
health and strength, as the conditions necessary for an ac- 
tive human existence. The Hebrew and Christian view is 



PRACTICAL LOVE. 



247 



reflected in the " Peace be with thee and thy house." Be- 
lievers wish each other the peace of the Lord, the peace 
which can only be bestowed upon us from above. 

When- the religious greeting of peace means more than 
a form, it is one with the blessing, and the blessing may 
be joined with intercession or prayer. That one man blesses 
another, means that he, praying to God for him, utters the 
good word over him, that he in prayer wishes for him a 
share of the grace of which he himself has become a par- 
taker. 

In the history of human greetings, the kiss has also its 
meaning. We often read in the apostolic epistles the ex- 
hortation to the first Christians, " Salute one another with 
a holy kiss " (1 Thess. 5 : 26; 1 Cor. 16 : 20 ; 2 Cor. 13 : 
12 ; Rom. 16 : 16 ; 1 Pet. 5 : 14, " with a kiss of love "). 
In the historical connection into which these exhortations 
transport us, the kiss is the sign of fraternal fellowship, 
and in certain circumstances the sign of reconciliation and 
forgiveness, — the kiss of peace. In the Early Church it 
had its place in the sacred ceremonies, especially in the 
Holy Supper. But also, apart from its connection with 
the holy and the highest, the same usage occurs as a natu- 
ral greeting of friendship on meeting and parting, and in 
other relations of life as a seal of friendship. — But there is 
also a Judas kiss. 

Closely akin to politeness is helpfulness, which is a sub- 
ordinate element in ministering love. Helpfulness may 
be defined as an unselfish readiness to help others, with the 
power at our disposal, to the means which they need for 
their personal objects. 



248 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



Mercy. — Christian philanthropy, in its unity with truth 
and righteousness, finds its climax, its crown, in mercy, the 
deep and hearty sympathy with human need, and like- 
wise the will to help it. Mercy is often taken as an equi 
valent to grace, but it is in truth a more special determina- 
tion of grace. Grace is free love to those who have no 
claim on it as something deserved, and is especially free 
love to sinners, to the unworthy. Mercy is rather free love 
to the wretched, and regards sin mainly under the point of 
view of human need and helplessness. It regards sin in a 
milder light than grace, — it pities the misery of sin. 

In the heathen world true mercy was dead and unknown ; 
and. in Israel it was only imperfectly known. But it was 
fully revealed in its spiritual and bodily meaning, when the 
kindness of God our Saviour, his love to men, appeared in 
Christ, and he redeemed us, the most helpless of all, after 
his great mercy (Eph. 2:4; Tit. 3:5). Christ likewise 
has left us an example of mercy, in that his whole life on 
earth was only a life of merciful love, during which he had 
continual regard to all human misery, and went about do- 
ing good (Acts 10 : 38). And with this example of mercy, 
he has also left us the prayer and exhortation of his mercy 
to succor the helpless (Matt. 25 : 35-40.) 

We would not, however, understand these words in 
their full meaning, and their whole range, if we sup- 
posed that they are to be understood exclusively of works 
of mercy in reference to external, bodily need. There 
are very many who do not need mere bodily help, but the 
more urgently need spiritual food and refreshment ; and 



PRACTICAL LOVE. 



249 



there is no relation of life in which the misery of this life 
does not appear in one form or other, and in which there 
is not at some time room for manifestations of Christian 
mercy. The Christian Church especially recognizes the 
spiritual and bodily import of mercy in her efforts for for- 
eign, home, and inner missions, in her efforts to rescue the 
lost and abandoned. 

Mercy does no injury to truth and righteousness, but 
rather affirms and confirms them. It by no means closes 
its eyes to sin and guilt. Collusions between mercy and 
righteousness are exclusively founded in the entanglements 
of this sinful life, and refer to the personal imperfection 
which is not able to fulfil various requirements at the same 
time. In God righteousness and mercy are found in the 
most perfect harmony. God does not exercise mercy, as 
many falsely assume, by drawing a stroke through his right- 
eousness, but so that by means of the atoning work of 
Christ he has made it possible to himself to show mercy 
without injuring his righteousness. 

In relation to the sick and deeply troubled, our mer- 
cy manifests itself by this, that we not only extend help 
and support to them as we are able, but also, as far as 
we are fit for it, and the others are susceptible of it, comfort 
them with the comfort with which we ourselves are comfort- 
ed by God (2 Cor. 1:4). In comforting, the important 
thing is not only the contents of the comfort, — however 
weighty this may be, — but the manner and way in which 
the comfort is applied. The art of comforting is by no 
means an easy one, — for a bruised reed requires to be 



250 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



touched with a tender hand. At times the still, silent 
sympathy we show to mourners may operate more bene- 
ficially than words (Rom. 12 : 15). 

Towards the distressed and poor, mercy appears as benefi- 
cence, which seeks to remove not merely the bodily need, 
but that of the soul, the moral evil. True care of the 
poor must have an educating character, and seek not only 
to help the poor to food, clothing and shelter, but to lead 
them to work and pray. The soul of the care of the poor 
is the care of the soul, — and this point of view must hence- 
forth dominate the Christian care of the poor. And above 
all it is necessary that the individual Christian, after the 
measure of his gifts, as well as of his external position in 
life, enter into a personal relation to the poor as far as pos- 
sible. But it is of importance also that the care of the 
poor be organized, as is the case in the many voluntary so- 
cieties that have been formed for this object. As far as 
such societies work with the right means and in the right 
spirit, it is the duty of the individual to support them to 
the utmost of his power. 

Of doubtful moral worth is all such beneficence as is 
careless in the choice of the means to reach its end. As 
examples we may mention the means so frequently used in 
our days, — the holding of fairs and concerts for the good 
of the poor, or for another charitable or even Christian ob- 
ject. To reach the good object, a means is used by which 
the moral motive is defiled. Christ says, "When thou 
doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand 
doeth " (Matt. 6 : 3). But here we have precisely the op- 



PRACTICAL LOVE. 



posite. With the one hand a gift is presented to the poor, 
and the other is stretched out to receive the reward of it, 
be it a ticket for a concert, or for a bazaar. Such a method 
is an insulting defilement of charity. To seek to allure 
from a man a gift of love by means of a bait for his selfish- 
ness, is a wretched absurdity. The end in view can never 
justify the means, much less sanctify them. 

In relation to human sinfulness, mercy manifests itself as 
forbearance, which may be defined as patience with the 
moral imperfections of men. In view of universal human 
sinfulness, we should cultivate the concord and peaceful- 
ness which prevents all needless conflict, and which is the 
opposite of quarrelsomeness, choler, positiveness, and ob- 
stinacy, and therefore is not possible without humility and 
gentleness. Gentleness is the power of love to quench up- 
rising anger, to curb the passionate and hasty disposition. 
True, we are not to purchase peace for every price, and 
must not withdraw ourselves from the fight when this is 
necessary (Rom. 12: 18). There is also such a thing as 
righteous indignation against the injustice of men, — but in 
the fight itself, precisely where righteous anger breaks forth, 
should gentleness and mildness approve themselves. True 
gentleness is self-control for the sake of love. And gen- 
tleness and forbearance unite in mildness in judging and 
deciding. "Be ye merciful," says Christ; "Judge not, 
and ye shall not be judged " (Luke 6 : 36, 37). 

" Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I 
forgive him ? until seven times ? Jesus saith unto him, I say 
not unto thee, Until seven times ; but, Until seventy times 



252 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



seven " (Matt. 18: 21, 22). Our Lord would teach Peter 
that in the heart of the Christian there must flow an inex- 
haustible fountain of forgiveness, which must never dry up, 
as in the father-heart of God there flows a perennial foun- 
tain of grace and of the forgiveness of sins, through his 
Son Jesus Christ. We are to love our enemies, even those 
who hate, insult, and persecute us (Matt. 5 : 44, 45), if we 
have such enemies at all. The sure token that we love our 
enemies is this, that we can pray for them from the heart. 

Edifying Example. — Every Christian can exert a strong 
indirect influence upon his fellow-man by means of exam- 
ple and edifying walk. Wherefore the Lord requires of his 
disciples, " So let your light shine before men, that they 
may see your good works, and glorify your Father which 
is in heaven " (Matt. 5 : 16). The Apostle Peter requires 
of teachers that they be examples to the flock (1 Pet. 5 : 3), 
and Paul exhorts Christians, " Ee ye imitators together of 
me" (Phil. 3: 17). Peter speakes of wives who without 
the word have by their walk won their heathen husbands 
for the gospel (1 Pet. 3 : 1). But it will follow of itself, 
that a good example must be given without any special ef- 
fort for it. Nay, the good example works the more power- 
fully the less he that gives it is conscious of it. 

Love to the Dead. — Human love embraces not only the 
living but also the dead, and among the latter not only 
those with whom we ourselves were personally connected, 
but also those whom our eye has never seen, but whom we 
notwithstanding love ; but above all, it embraces those with 
whom we are connected in the communion of Christ. If 



PRACTICAL LOVE. 



253 



we are united in hearty love with our departed ones, love 
must follow them even beyond the grave. And although 
all earthly and sensuous intercourse with them is broken 
off, still we remain connected with them in the same king- 
dom ; for Christ reigns over the living and the dead, and 
the Holy Spirit is he that forms the community, as well here 
as yonder, and in that Spirit we are continually united with 
them. 

It may well be declared as an ethical requirement, that 
we keep faith towards the dead with whom we were truly 
connected in love, and that we do not let them sink into 
the night of forgetfulness, but faithfully preserve their 
memory. We should hold their memory in honor and 
protect it, as also be ready to defend it should it be unjust- 
ly assailed. If we were united in the same spirit with them, 
we should, according to the ability given us, continue their 
work in promoting God's Kingdom, do our part, that what 
they have sown and planted may grow and develop even 
after their departure, and all this in the hope of meeting 
again, and of a reunion in the eternal mansions where those 
who really belong to each other will also find one another. 

We mourn at the grave, but " we sorrow not, even as the 
rest, which have no hope" (1 Thess. 4: 13). And in 
closing up our love with the hope of eternal life, we are 
preparing ourselves for our departure. The older we grow, 
the more frequently do we experience that the earthly 
bonds by which we are bound to those we love, are being 
unbound by death. But in the same measure the roots are 
also unbound by which we ourselves have grown into the 
present world. 



254 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



If we love and honor the departed as immortal spirits, 
we must also honor them by taking under our care the 
earthly matter which was the dwelling of the spirit here be- 
low. The great importance which Christianity attaches to 
the body, makes it for Christians a sacred duty to show be- 
coming respect to the corpse. As the most worthy kind of 
burial, the Church has from the earliest times commended 
interment in the earth to the Christian consciousness and 
feeling. Although Holy Scripture furnishes no express 
command to inter, yet this follows as necessary inference 
from Gen. 3:19. Burial in the earth is also presupposed 
throughout, when Scripture speaks of death -and the resur- 
rection (John 12 : 24; 1 Cor. 15 : 44). 

Interment constitutes the right mean between two other 
mutually opposed ways of dealing with human corpses, em- 
balming and cremation. Both of these latter modes of dispo- 
sing of the dead are an outgrowth and reaction of modern 
heathenism. We, as Christians, practice no arts either to 
preserve the body or to annihilate it, but deliver it to the 
dissolving power of nature. We know that death is some- 
thing else and more than a mere natural process, that it is 
the wages of sin (Rom. 6 : 23). We bow in humility 
under God's order, but have a saCred dread to enter upon 
voluntary experiments which should invade that law of dis- 
solution which is confirmed by the Divine word (Gen. 3 : 
19). The Church cannot burn her dead, and let this cus- 
tom take the place of the previous mode of burial. 

The dissection of human bodies, in itself offensive not 
only to Christian but also to heathen feeling, can only ap- 



PRACTICAL LOVE. 255 

pear admissible for the sake of medical science, namely, 
as a means that may lead to the mitigation of human suf- 
ferings. But respect for the human body requires that 
these investigations be reduced to what is absolutely neces- 
sary. Also, the body of no person must be made a sacri- 
fice to this practice, except his own consent may be pre- 
supposed. Only with those who have been executed as 
criminals, and so have partly lost their human rights, can 
an exception here be made. In all others it must be re- 
garded as an invasion of their rights as men. 

Love to Posterity. — As we, spiritually as well as physi- 
cally, are closely related to the generations that have gone 
before, so our love must also embrace our posterity. It is 
a truth which holds in great as well as in small things, that 
the present generation in many respects is living on the 
capital, both material and intellectual, which it has inherit- 
ed, as also that those now alive must pay the debt to a sue- 
ceeding generation. Therefore it must lie on our hearts 
to leave to our children and successors a good and blessed 
inheritance. Above all, we should be eagerly desirous 
that we may leave God's word to them as the best inheri- 
tance, by at once letting the power of that word pene- 
trate into all our works and undertakings, that thereby a 
good way may be made for those who come after us. Each 
one in his calling should aim at and study that he leaves 
his children what can serve to strengthen and advance 
them. And although we may leave our children nothing 
else whatever than a Christian training and exhortation, 
and an honorable name, that will prove the greatest bless- 



256 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



ing to them. We should not only in the literal but espe- 
cially in the spiritual sense, plant trees whose fruits and 
shadows may benefit not ourselves but our successors ; and 
above all we should beware of incurring any guilt which 
we cannot ourselves atone for, but which would lie heavy 
on the race that comes after us. The greatest guilt is that 
which we contract by our sins, our pride, our levity, our 
swindling, our sensuality, our luxury and pleasure-seeking, 
— and it often happens that the consequences of these sins, 
as well in a physical as a moral sense, come first in the 
children to their full and frightful development. 

Love to Nature and to Beast. — The Christian view of 
nature perceives amidst all the perishableness of nature, 
the traces of the everlasting power and divinity of God 
(Rom. 1 : 20). And in intercourse with nature, the Chris- 
tian mind lays itself open to those impressions, which the 
loftiness and grandeur of creation and its harmonious 
beauty and loveliness produce, — and which give us a pre- 
sentiment of a higher life not yet revealed. But although 
contact with nature has great importance for our aesthetic 
education, still the Christian knows very well that nature 
cannot give what only the spirit of regeneration is able to 
give, and which latter only first enables us to see na- 
ture in its right light. 

All arbitrariness in the way of treating nature, all wan- 
ton destruction, is evil and to be rejected. Nature ought to 
be treated in the way that agrees with the proper dignity 
of man. As God's image on earth, man should not only 
mirror God's righteousness, which in the whole compass of 



PRACTICAL LOVE. 



257 



creation maintains law and order, measure and limit, but 
also the goodness of God, who "is good to all, and his 
tender mercies are over all his works" (Ps. 145: 9). 
This finds a special application to our relation to the beasts. 
Man is indeed justified, yea bound, to kill beasts, partly in 
self-defence, partly that he may satisfy his needs. But 
then all unnecessary cruelty must be avoided. Harshness 
and cruelty, which finds a pleasure in subjecting beasts to 
torture, is devilish. Cruelty to animals, overtaxing beasts 
of burden for greater gain, deserves the name of unrighteous- 
ness and rude violence. "A righteous man regardeth the 
life of his beast" (Prov. 12: 10). He affords them not 
only the needful care, but grants them also the needful 
rest. 

The humane, respectful treatment of nature must also be 
shown in regard to the lower animals, — which even the 
naturalist may lay to heart. It is told of Leibnitz that he 
once observed an insect long and carefully under the micro- 
scope, but then carefully carried it back again to its leaf. 
So to employ beasts as means for our pleasures is allowed, 
provided the pleasures are not cruel and inhuman which is 
not always sufficiently considered. Are vivisections to be 
approved, in which a living creature (a dog or a rabbit) is 
done to death amid the most dreadful torments, that amid 
these tortures natural-historical observations may be made 
for enriching science? We grant that vivisection has given 
us knowledge that was salutary for the life and health of 
man, — but to use vivisection as a means of instruction and 
to satisfy curiosity in schools and institutions of learning, 
18 



258 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



to put animals under such torture, is abominable. It must 
only be carried out by experts, with whom after the ripest 
consideration it has become a matter of conscience, hoping 
thereby to gain still greater knowledge for science (which 
is extremely doubtful), and if it is entered on with such a 
spirit, it will but seldom occur. The investigator of na- 
ture is first and before all a man, and only afterwards an 
investigator of nature. It is in the province of legislation 
to put limits to cruelty to animals, and thereby also to 
the misconduct that is committed by vivisections. 



SECTION VIII. 

CHRISTIAN SELF-LOVE. 

Self -Love in Truth and Righteousness. — Ministering love 
is by no means a mere service of man, but above all God's 
service, and this essentially embraces also all that belongs to 
the kingdom of God in us whereby that kingdom must be 
planted and developed within our own personality. And 
thus there results the conception of Christian self-love. It 
may be defined as devotion to the ethical ideal hovering 
before the individuality, to the ideal of ministering love, in 
its unity with the ideal of freedom and blessedness. This 
self-love attains its full outer form not otherwise than by 
long and severe labor, by an earnest struggle against our 
natural sinful individuality, which herein places so great 
and even new hindrances in the way. 

When it has been said that love to men must be insepa- 



CHRISTIAN SELF-LOVE. 259 

rably connected with love as well to truth as to righteous- 
ness, this applies also to self-love. In the effort to work 
out the ideal of our own personality, we must be true to 
ourselves, that we may know what we should properly be 
according to God's will and appointment, and know also 
what hinders us from actually being it — a knowledge which 
we gain in the hours of contemplation and of prayer, as 
also amid the experiences of practical life. We must tell 
ourselves the truth, and hear the truth from the mouth of 
others, be able to bear it, and keep heart and ears often for 
the voices and testimonies of the truth, and seek for en- 
lightenment and growth in knowledge. We must, further, 
be also just to ourselves, and assert, preserve, and defend 
that personality which God has bestowed on us, and fight 
against all unrighteousness that cleaves to our existence, so 
that we, comforting ourselves with the righteousness of 
faith, may likewise be earnest with the righteousness of 
life. 

Compassion with Ourselves. — In this* work of reaHzing 
our ideal of personality, it cannot but be that we make 
many sad experiences in ourselves with regard to the " bot- 
tomless depth of corruption " which lies hidden in our old 
man, — and the more we increase in right self-knowledge 
the more does our unrighteousness reveal itself. Many a 
time we cannot avoid feeling a deep compassion with our- 
selves, which is not only repentance, but a genuine com- 
passion with the misery, the wretchedness of the state in 
which we are, the wide, distance between what we are and 
what we would like to be. If only this compassion with 



260 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



ourselves does not degenerate into weak and fruitless com- 
plainings, or even into that self-satisfaction and the vanity 
of spurious pietism, it is an essential element of right self- 
love, and a weighty basis of sanctifkation. 

That men feel compassion with themselves is a very usual 
thing ; but as a rule, it is of this world. But the tears of 
sensitive compassion which men weep over themselves, or 
over others, have often only a doubtful value, because sin 
and the misery of sin, in which one is involved, is entirely 
left out of account. No Christian, so long as he wanders 
here on earth, has done with regret and repentance, with 
the pain and godly sorrow (2 Cor. 7 : 10), that it is ever 
still so amiss with us, that so much in us is still hindered 
and bound, so much that must still sob and complain, that 
longs for redemption and awaits it (Rom. 8: 23). "O 
wretched man that I am ! Who shall deliver me out of 
the body of this death?" (Rom. 7 : 24). So speaks the 
Apostle Paul, groaning and mourning in his inmost being 
over himself ; but he also raises himself above this, in that 
he at once adds, " I thank God through Jesus Christ our 
Lord." When any one has become sincerely a Christian, 
he has .also learned by experience, to understand these 
words of the apostle, and apprehend them in the apostle's 
spirit. 

This compassion which we feel for ourselves should . 
awaken in us thankfulness and faith in the mercy of God, 
and a longing after perfection, as well as stir us up to earn- 
est work on the problem of life which our God has set be- 
fore us. Nor must we lose courage, but work on in hope 



CHRISTIAN SELF-LOVE. 



261 



and in patience with ourselves to develop the Christian 
character of our new personality, that we may be built up 
in the strength of the inner man. 

The Earthly and the Heavenly Calling. — The earthly call- 
ing is the finite temporal form within which the heavenly 
calling is to be realized, — both these callings forming 
only two phases of our earthly Christian calling, both su- 
bordinated and made subservient to the supreme object of 
life (Phil. 3 : 14). The earthly calling rests partly on the 
individuality and talent, partly on the special divine lead- 
ing, that makes itself known through certain external cir- 
cumstances and relations. It is the earthly calling that es- 
tablishes inequality among men, while the heavenly calling, 
which is to be fulfilled within the sphere of these earthly 
callings, in spite of individual differences, makes men 
alike, remains the same for all and each. 

As Christian society ought not to have any drones who 
merely consume and do nothing to nourish it, every man 
must have a special vocation beside the family one. It is 
the woman alone who has the family vocation as her proper 
sphere, and hence she is also the vehicle of the propaga- 
tion of the race. " The man must not be a stay-at-home " 
(Rothe). If any will not work, neither let him eat (2 
Thess. 3 : 10-12). 

While we, as regards the heavenly calling, cannot be in 
doubt what God's will for us is, this is by no means the 
case with the earthly calling. For each one the most earn- 
est problem must be this, — in the choice of the earthly 
calling to attain to clear consciousness as to what is God's 



262 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS, 



good and acceptable will with him. If a wrong choice is 
made it is a serious misfortune both for the individual him- 
self and for the community. Accordingly the utmost con- 
scientious and strictest self-examination are necessary in 
the choice of a vocation. We can only lay down this 
general principle; our decision must never be a merely sub- 
jective one, nor, on the other hand, must love and inclina- 
tion ever be wanting ; in some way or other, inward im- 
pulse and an outward call must always go together. 

To tear asunder the heavenly calling from the earthly, or 
the earthly from the heavenly, alike deserves the name of 
unrighteousness. Herein lies the error of asceticism, 
which regards renunciation of the world and resignation 
as the destination of the earthly existence. But the more 
consistently the ascetic ideal is pursued, the more evident 
it becomes, that the life upon which it lays so much stress, 
is untrue. This can be seen in the fact that the whole monk- 
ish life suppresses true and free individuality of the soul 
and free development of Christian character. 

While we serve in both the heavenly and the earthly 
calling, we do not serve two masters, but one. It is only 
one will that "is to be done on earth as it is in heaven," 
in earthly and heavenly things. The difference between 
the work of the Christian and the unbeliever in the earthly 
calling, lies chiefly in this, that while a Christian performs 
the work of his temporal calling he likewise also works as 
well as prays for the coming of God's kingdom in himself and 
outside of himself. His earthly calling becomes for him- 
self a means of education for his own perfection, for the 



CHRISTIAN SELF-LOVE. 



263 



growth and ripening of his inner man, which amid all this 
work is to be more deeply rooted in faith, obedience and 
love. But he works also for the coming of the kingdom of 
God outside of himself; for he knows that this whole earth- 
ly order of things, in which also the single day's work ob- 
ligatory on him occupies its appointed place assigned by 
God himself, bears its last object not in itself, but has a 
deep meaning for the kingdom of God. 

We are also to show faithfulness in our calling, a con- 
scientious fulfilment of duty as in the service of the Lord. 
It belongs also to fidelity in our calling that we employ all 
means to educate and make ourselves fit for it, and that we 
do not refuse to bear its burdens also. True faithfulness in 
our calling is shown not only in the care, exercise, and de- 
velopment of that which is entrusted to us, but also in 
contending against the hindrances and obstacles that place 
themselves in the way of our activity. 

Social Life and Solitude. — As life in following Christ is 
at the same time lived for the perfecting of the community 
to which we belong, and for our personal perfection, it be- 
longs to the righteousness of life that in the life of a Chris- 
tian a regulated alternation takes place between social life 
and solitude. True social life leads to solitude : for how 
are we to carry out God's will in the community if we do 
not in solitude unite our will with the will of God, in pray- 
er and quiet contemplation, in conscientious, earnest con- 
sideration and reflection, in those inner struggles in which 
our heart becomes firm ? And in this our Lord himself has 
left us an example. On the one hand, in solitude we are 



♦ 



264 CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 

to seek to counteract the dangers arising from social life, — 
the dissipation, defilement, loss of individuality, the absorp- 
tion of our inner man in externality and worldliness. On the 
other hand, in social life we are to seek a protection against 
the dangers arising from solitude, self-confidence, selfish- 
ness, spiritual pride, temptations to impurity. In the life 
of a Christian there must, therefore be found a healthy 
union of practice and contemplation, contraries which find 
their unity in love, in surrender to the will of God, and in 
the ministering relation to the Lord. 

In what way this ministering position must be regulated 
in the individual human life, how much must be allowed to 
contemplation, how much to practice, is conditioned by 
the individual organization, as also by the special calling 
of the individual. In one-sided and exclusive practice, the 
inner man is blunted and relaxed, and in this lies the great 
danger of the present day. Those who live exclusively in 
business, gradually get, so to speak, an earth-rind round 
their soul, by which all susceptibility for higher impressions 
is smothered. However such men may show fidelity in 
their calling, yet they live continually in the sin of not 
subordinating the earthly to the heavenly calling. 

The more complete a human existence is, the more for- 
cibly a union of the practical and the contemplative meets 
us in it. For that is the destination of man, that the ut- 
most extremes of existence shall find in him their trans- 
forming point of union, the infinite and the finite, the 
heavenly and the earthly, the spiritual and the bodily, the 
contemplative and the practical. So we find it in the great 



CHRISTIAN SELF-LOVE. 



265 



followers of the Lord, — for example, in the Apostle Paul. 
A similar freedom to move in the one as in the other sphere 
of life meets us also in Luther. 

The opposition between social life and solitude recurs al- 
so as the opposition between speech and silejzce. We must 
not only be able to keep the secrets of others entrusted to 
us, but also our own secret. There are secrets of sin as well 
as of grace, which the individual is only to know for him- 
self and with his God, and cannot utter before others with- 
out profanation. There is a silence that is to be preserved 
amid these inner struggles, which we are to fight through 
alone, for our own training. There is also a silence that 
one has to observe in times of misconception, as also 
against injuries experienced, as well as human baseness. 
But not merely, in regard to the wrong we meet with, may 
silence have its moral significance, but the good and great 
purpose must also advance to ripeness in silence, as* it may 
by premature disclosure, and if too soon exposed to the air 
of publicity, be injured, weakened, yea, made to wither al- 
together. 

Men who cannot be silent betray not only lack of self- 
control, but also lack of mental strength. Superficial na- 
tures have within them no reservoir, can contain nothing, 
but must at once yield up. Deeper natures, on the other 
hand, can cherish and keep much in their heart. Yet there 
is a suspicious and soul-imperiling silence against which we 
must be on our guard. A great relief is afforded in con- 
fession, when the sufferer commits his secret to the breast 
of another man, whether it be a minister of the Church or 



266 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



a faithful friend. The goal towards which we must work is 
that we become ever more manifest one to the other in the 
all-illuminating unity of love. 

Working and Enjoying. — Not only the contrast of social 
life and solitude, practice and contemplation, speaking and 
silence, but also the commoner contrast between working 
and enjoying, laboring and resting, must be equalized and 
harmonized. As the union of productivity and appropria- 
tion, life is a rythmical alternation of labor and rest. 
True rest is not only a pause during which new strength is 
gathered, not only a breathing-time after the exertion and 
straining of our powers, but self-conscious rest is a positive 
enjoyment of the unity of life, in that our personal life is 
strengthened. We are raised above our specialty, and feel 
ourselves only as men. It belongs also to the right rela- 
tion between labor and rest, that we allow ourselves plenty 
of time to sleep, and yet allow no longer time than is neces- 
sary for the daily renovation of our life. In the whole do- 
main of nature, in plants and animals, this sinking back 
into a state of passivity occurs, in which sleep asserts its 
claims. After the resurrection, when the new and perfect 
existence of the redeemed dawns, there will be no more 
sleep, for then we shall be freed from nature. The spirits 
also do not sleep : the angels as little as the demons. 

Temptation and Assault. — The object of faith, in the 
believer, is not merely the reception of justifying grace be- 
fore God, but also to fulfil in the power of God all the will 
of God. For our education, as well for this earth as for 
heaven, God has appointed temptations and sufferings in 



CHRISTIAN SELF-LOVE. 



267 



our life. So far as the temptations are appointed by God, 
they are no temptations to evil, but trials, p7'oofs y aiming 
to make the undecided one decided, the virtue as yet un- 
proved approved and unquestionable, the Christian's " call- 
ing and election sure " (2 Peter 1 : 10). From this point 
of view we must understand what the apostle says when he 
Would comfort the Christians in their trials, "count it all 
joy when ye fall into manifold temptations" (James 1:2). 
So far however as our temptations come from " the devil, 
the world, and the flesh," they are incentives to evil. In 
this case the temptation has for its aim not merely to in- 
duce the Christian to think, will, and act contrary to the 
will of God, but to force him from that state of grace in 
which by faith he stands, and by which through God's 
grace he is enabled to think and act conformably to the 
divine will. 

Signification of Temptation to the Regenerate. — For the 
regenerate, temptation has another and a higher meaning 
than for the unregenerate man. The latter lives in separa- 
tion from God and in unbelief. In the regenerate man the 
fellowship of God is restored in faith. The power of sin 
is broken, and the new life planted and founded in him. 
But regeneration is in the first place only in the centre ; in 
the circumference there is still sin, which is to be slain, that 
the new birth may pervade the whole man more and more. 
Temptation, therefore, applies itself to the old man, in or- 
der to awaken a reaction against the new man, to bring to 
pass a relapse into the old sinful state. 

However variously the history of temptation may take 



268 



CHRIS TIA N ETHICS. 



shape in the life of this or that Christian, the chief temp- 
tations of the old man will ever recur, namely, pride and 
sensuality. Because the Christian lives under the constant 
mutual action of freedom and grace, the temptation of 
piide lies near him, namely, to seek, independently of 
grace, to rise unto likeness to God. And further, be 
cause the contrast between flesh and spirit is a far deeper 
one than the contrast between reason and sensuality, the 
temptation to sensuality, and every falling into sensuality, 
acquires in the regenerate a far more serious meaning than 
in unchristian or heathen life. The old heathenism knows 
nothing of chastity, as expressive of the dominion which 
the spirit of holiness exercises over the flesh, over the body 
as the temple of the Spirit ; it knows nothing of humility 
-and the obedience of faith in ministering love. 

The course of temptation which the regenerate must pass 
through is partly conditioned by his individuality,and partly 
by the situation in which he finds himself. While he must 
fight the good fight, in exercising self-denial and fighting 
the powers of temptation outside of him, his severest strug- 
gle consists in having to fight the powers of temptation in 
hi7nself. For although the old man is thrust out of the 
centre, dethroned, yet he constantly moves, and rests not 
with his deceitful lusts, as long as we still live in this flesh 
and blood. 

Means of Overcoming Temptation. — If we are to fight 
the good fight, we must take care to gain a thorough 
knowledge of our individual dangers and temptations, 
of our weak sides, and have a proper distrust of ourselves. 



CHRISTIAN SELF-LOVE. 



269 



Watch and pray ! In the fight it is of the greatest im- 
portance to resist temptation in its first beginning, that 
it grow not unperceived and become strong, and at 
length overcome us like a mighty monster: The more a 
Christian learns to gain the victory in temptation by 
early showing himself the master and gaining a battle, 
the more he progresses in holiness, so much the more 
will alluring temptations be changed for him into suffer- 
ings. To Christ each alluring temptation was changed 
into a suffering; and as such he must also have felt 
it even when the people showed their applause to him, 
and would take him by force and make him a king (John 
6: 15). The greater danger enters when the temptation 
becomes our own pleasure, when it agrees with our inclina- 
tion, and when the alluring phantasy-picture becomes the 
object of continuing delight. 

While we watch over our heart that we may get the vic- 
tory in temptation, we must also so far as possible go out 
of the way of the occasion thereto, and ward it off. There 
are temptations against which the only means is — flight. 
In the struggle against temptation to evil, the chief point 
is not to investigate what kind of painful or pleasurable 
feeling excites our selfish desire, but to prove ourselves, 
whether in each moment of temptation we betake our. 
selves in faith for refuge to our Lord and Saviour. When 
in our temptation we abide in Christ and Christ' in us abides 
the Lord over all things (1 Cor. 3 : 22, 23), there is temp- 
tation overcome. The primary point is, that our resis- 
tance should he made in the strength of faith ; and, second- 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



ly, the form of resistance should also be adapted to the 
form of temptation, and that subjection of the body (i Cor. 
9: 27), as well as the bringing into captivity of every 
thought and imagination which exalteth itself against obe- 
dience to Christ (2 Cor. 10 : 5), should be present when 
the temptation demands either the one or the other. For 
the aim of our preservation embraces us wholly — spirit, 
soul, and body (1 Thess. 5 : 23.) 

Assault. — A special kind of temptation is the assault, 
a temptation which only the believer knows. The assault 
arises, as an attack upon the faith, from within the man 
himself. And it does not, like so many other temptations, 
attack faith only mediately, but directly and centrally. It 
is a state of anxiety and doubt, in which we thus have not 
to fight against an alluring temptation, but against a temp- 
tation that threatens a Christian w T ith spiritual death, and 
threatens to rob him of that which is his dearest possession. 
It attacks the centre of the soul, its inmost relation to God, 
and seeks to bring the believer to the point of doubting 
the word and grace of God. 

The assault may move in an objective and in a subjec- 
tive relation, — it may refer to God's relation and his gov- 
ernment of the world, or to the relation of the individual 
to eternal salvation. Men who are without faith-experience, 
and only occupy themselves with Christianity in a purely 
historical and scientific way (like so many theological 
critics), may indeed let fall one part of Christianity after 
the other. They have nothing to lose, and stand outside 
the whole matter. But the child of God, who realizes 



CHRISTIAN SELF-LOVE. 



271 



what faith in Christ implies, when he passes through the 
trial and is assailed, is distressed by the danger of losing 
what is his life's last support, comfort, and refuge. 

In Old Testament times, Job presents to us the picture 
of the sorely assailed. His temptation belongs to the first 
of the two directions, the objective, with reference to the 
divine government of the world. He expresses himself in 
long speeches in which faith struggles with doubt. In the 
New Testament, John the Baptist appears as such a tempted 
one, when from his prison he addresses the question to 
Christ, "Art thou he that cometh, or look we for another " ? 
(Matt, n : 3). As a tempted one of this kind, we know 
also the doubting Thomas, who always looked on the dark 
side. These temptations can only be overcome by doing 
as Job at length did (Job 42 : 1-6) bowing in humility be- 
fore the wonderful works and providence of God, and above 
all by doing as John the Baptist did, applying to Jesus 
himself, to get better information, by studying the Word 
of God, and learning more fully the nature and power of 
his kingdom, laying to heart at the same time that word of 
the Lord to Thomas, " Blessed are they that have not 
seen, and yet have believed " (John 20: 29). 

But the temptation may also take another direction. 
Then the tempted one doubts not God's revelation, his 
wise and righteous government of the world, nor the truths 
of -Christianity. He doubts himself, his personal salvation, 
whether he too dare appropriate the promises of Christian- 
ity and of God's grace. This temptation is exactly the 
opposite of that which we meet in Job and John the Bap- 



272 CHRISTIAN E THICS. 

tist. The tempted one feels himself overwhelmed by the 
consciousness of sin, his feeling of guilt, feels himself un- 
worthy of the grace of God, and does not venture to be- 
lieve in the forgiveness of hfs sins. This temptation must 
also be viewed as a trial of faith, into which God often lets 
his children fall, as we, for example, see in Luther, who 
was often and severely tempted in this way. In such a 
case the tempted one must remind himself, or be reminded, 
that we are justified before God for Christ's sake through 
faith alone, and not through our merit, nor through the 
works of the law. He must be reminded that it is the 
greatest sin not to believe in the forgiveness of sins, for 
unbelief is the sin of all sins, which severs us from life in 
the love of God. Nor is it this or that degree of faith by 
which a man is justified before God. It is Christ's merit, it 
is Christ himself who is our righteousness, when he is ap- 
propriated in sincere, though it may be, w t eak faith. 

To overcome temptation we must not only watch our 
heart above all things, but consider too that we have not 
only to contend with flesh and blood, but with evil spirits, 
" against the principalities, against the powers, against the 
world-rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of 
wickedness in the heavenly places" (Eph. 6: 12). It is 
therefore also necessary that we quicken faith anew in Christ 
who lives in us, who is greater and mightier than he that is 
in the world (1 John 4 : 4), and strive in prayer and labor, 
and when it is needful, with dietetic means also. For ex- 
perience teaches that the body, and especially the nervous 
system, plays a great part particularly in temptations. 



CHRISTIAN SELF-LOVE. 



273 



Suffering. — Turning now from temptation to the con- 
sideration of suffering in general, all sufferings that befall 
the believer in following Christ have this in common, that, 
despite the general connection that exists between suffer- 
ing and sin, they are allotments of the disciplinary grace 
of God. The sufferings of a Christian are veils beneath 
which the love of God conceals itself. The sufferings that 
befall a Christian may be regarded partly under the point 
of view of fatherly chastisement, partly under that of fa- 
therly trial. Chastisement, however, is not equivalent to 
the retributive punishment, which is appointed to the un- 
godly. For the judgment upon the ungodly embraces only 
retribution as such, a revelation of God's righteousness, 
that they may receive what their deeds have deserved. 
In chastisement, again, although this includes punishment 
and retribution, yet paternal love predominates, which leads 
and prepares the disciple to a renewed exercise of godli- 
ness (Heb. 12:11). " As many as I love, I reprove and 
chasten" (Rev. 3: 19). This experience ever recurs in 
the history of God's children \ and we may maintain that 
the higher a man stands in the kingdom of God, the more 
will he experience, internally or externally, the chastening 
hand. 

But every chastisement is likewise a trial ; but every trial 
is not a chastisement. Trial as such contains nothing of 
punishment and retribution. It may overtake the believer 
in the midst of and as an aid to the work of sanctiflcation. 
It aims to establish his fidelity more deeply, to confirm his 
calling and election, to strengthen his' consciousness that 
19 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



he is God's child, and victoriously to reveal his love to 
God as pure unselfish love, that God may be glorified in 
his servant. Whether now we are to understand our own 
sufferings as chastisements, or as purifying trials, or as both 
together, are questions to which each one must give the 
answer within himself. Two men may surfer the same 
thing, and yet it is not the same. For the moral state of 
the individual cannot be judged after his suffering ; but the 
suffering must be judged after each one's moral state. 

The import of the sufferings of the just is the great 
problem, whose solution is aimed at in the Book of Job, — 
a work which ranks among the highest among the Old Tes- 
tament books of Wisdom, whether we regard the descrip- 
tions of nature contained in it, the exhibition of the mys- 
teries of the visible creation, or its psychological descrip- 
tions, or its exhibition of the mysteries of the suffering hu- 
man soul. It goes back to the original religion which exist- 
ed independent o.f Abraham's, wherefore Franz Delitzsch 
has aptly designated the book of Job as a Melchizedek 
among the books of the Old Testament. 

This book teaches us to recognize a fourfold purpose in 
human suffering. 

1) . There is a retributive suffering with which God visits 
the ungodly. This proposition is discussed in manifold as- 
pects by Job's three aged friends, Eliphaz, Bildad, and 
Zophar (see especially Job 8: 1-22; 15 : 20-35 > I ~ 
21 ; 20: 1-29), and at last conceded by Job himself (27: 
11-23). 

2) . There is a divine chastisement imposed upon all 



CHRISTIAN SELF-LOVE. 



275 



men, which is necessarily due to the natural impurity and 
sinfulness of human nature, and must accordingly be borne 
by the righteous also. This is the doctrine which Eliphaz 
advances in his first speech, in explanation of the calami- 
ties of Job (4: 1 -21), where in verses 12-16, he refers to a 
revelation imparted to him in a night vision. 

3) . There is also a special trial, testing and purifying, 
of the righteous, imposed upon them by the love of God, 
for the purpose of delivering them from some secret pride, 
of leading them to humble and penitent self-knowledge, 
and of thus insuring to them the divine favor. This is the 
doctrine which Elihu brings forward in Job 33: 14-30; 
36: 5- x 5- 

4) . There is a suffering which is designed to manifest the 
triumph of faith and the fidelity of the righteous. This it 
is which was the immediate object of Job's afflictions, as 
already alluded to in the Prologue of the Book of Job, and 
shown to all in the Epilogue} 

The Cross. — Having set forth suffering as chastisement 
and trial, we must mention yet a third class of sufferings, 
namely, sufferings for righteousness' sake, for Christ's sake, 
for the sake of the kingdom of God, in which we can also 
include Job's sufferings in their wider sense, so far, namely, 
as they also are to serve to glorify God, and to establish 
more firmly the kingdom of God in the heart of man. 
Such sufferings may be embraced under the title " cross," 
and we may even distinguish a twofold cross. There is 

1 Compare my Biblical Theology of the Old Testament. Page 209, 
First Edition. Chicago and New York, 1886. 



2 76 CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 

a cross, a suffering that is laid upon us without our will. 
We are, like that Simon of Cyrene (Mark 15 : 21), com- 
pelled to bear the cross ; for example, a sickness, or the loss 
of a beloved one. But now all depends upon how we 
bear it, whether with resistance or in faith and obedience, 
in yielding ourselves to the will of God. There is also, 
however, another cross, which is not so much laid upon as 
offered to us, and in which it depends upon our will, our 
free choice, whether we will accept it or leave it. If we 
decide henceforth to live our life in following Christ, that 
is equivalent to the decision of taking up the cross, because 
we then have chosen a life of self-denial. 

Comfort under Sufferings.— The ground of quieting and 
comfort which we have to apply amid our sufferings are dif- 
ferent according to the nature of those sufferings. The 
strongest ground of contentment is the consciousness of 
the grace of God in Christ, the consciousness that we are 
beloved of God in Christ, that nothing can separate us 
from the love of God, and that all things must work for 
our good, if we love God (Rom. 5 : 5 j 8 : 28, 38, 39). 
But this finds its special application in the different situa- 
tions. If we must view our sufferings as chastisements, there 
must be a comfort for us in this, that they are fatherly chas- 
tisements, that aim at our salvation, our improvement, that 
we may bring forth the fruit of righteousness. When we 
can regard our sufferings as trials, our comfort lies in this, 
that these sufferings are to serve for our education, for our 
progress, that a transformation into the more perfect may 
take place, which otherwise would not come to pass. But 



CHRISTIAN SELF-LOVE. 



277 



sufferings serve not only to purify but also to edify. They 
teach us self-knowledge ; they bring us into more intimate 
communion with God ; they teach us thankfulness to God ; 
they make us more sympathetic for the sufferings of others. 

But sufferings are also given us as a preventive, defensive, 
and quenching means against sin. They are ever anew 
to conduct us into the school and exercise of humility. 
Our sufferings are to help us to gain the victory over temp- 
tations, in which without them we might easily come to a 
fall. They may be compared to a drag which is put on a 
coach to keep it from rolling down the hill with headlong 
rapidity. 

What has been said above of the more earnest sufferings, 
is also applicable to those disturbances and annoyances, 
those discomforts of life, mostly touching but the surface, 
which daily life brings with it, and which so often make us 
impatient and excitable. We need these annoyances to 
train and develop our personal character. 



CHAPTER II. 



CHRISTIAN LIBERTY. 



SECTION I. 

CHRISTIAN LIBERTY AND THE LAW. 

The Ideal of Christian Liberty. — Only in devotion to 
God and his kingdom is true liberty developed and formed. 
The ideal of liberty forms indeed the opposite of the ideal 
of surrender, of love and obedience, or of service, but yet 
only attains its truth and realization in unity with it. In- 
ternal liberty is the condition of love ; but it is also its no- 
ble fruit, its result. Only the will expressed by the spirit 
of surrender, of love, and of obedience, is the true char- 
acter. In contrast to heathenism (modern and ancient), 
in which the wise man will be free and self-dependent with- 
out God, we hold firm to the consciousness that only that 
existence can be called really free that lives and moves in 
full agreement with its proper being. But the essence of 
man is the being in God's image ; the destination of man 
is to find and gain himself in God, to be a law to himself 
in fulfilling God's law, to be free under grace. God is the 
element of human volition ; and each being can only be 
itself in its element. As the bird is only free in the ele- 

(278) 



CHRISTIAN LIBERTY. 



279 



ment of air, the fish only in water, so man only in God, 
and in the fulness of his love. 

Christian Liberty and the Law. — Through justifying faith 
the regenerate one is freed from the curse of the law, in that 
by grace he has received the forgiveness of sins, and is be- 
come a child of God ; and in this new relation to God he 
receives the power for a development of life, with which 
he begins an entirely new attitude to the law; for the love 
of God is shed abroad in our hearts (Rom. 5 : 5), and we 
become partakers of the divine life. The new life in Christ 
has become in us the principle of liberty, and we live our 
life after the impulse of the Spirit. " For as many as are 
led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God " (Rom. 
8: 14). Christian liberty stands therefore at once in op- 
position to all lawlessness (Antinomianism) and to all le- 
gality (Nomianism). The principle in the life of a Chris^ 
tian is the unity of the law with freedom of the will, or 
what is the same thing, the unity of freedom with grace, 
with God's love. And the more the new life, the love of 
God, the new obedience wrought by the Holy Spirit in the 
heart of man, is diffused from the centre over the whole 
circumference of life, the more also will the whole life- 
walk show itself a walk in truth and righteousness. 

It is true, however, that this ideal life only becomes ap- 
proximately realized. We are God's children only so that 
we likewise are to become such. As long as we wander in 
this temporal life, the contrast between the ideal and the 
reality remains. No one attains to a perfectly harmonious 
life of liberty this side of the grave. A Christian will there- 



28o 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



fore all his life need what is known as the " didactic " use 
of the law, the law as far as it is also valid for the regene- 
rate. 

Christian Liberty and Authority. — Liberation from the 
bondage of the law is likewise also liberation from the bon- 
dage of authority. As Christianity has emancipated men 
from spiritual and bodily bondage, that they may appro- 
priate (or also reject) the gospel of redemption quite freely, 
no human power may place itself as a hindrance between 
man and the divine truth. A chief part of evangelical 
liberty which has been recovered by the Reformation con- 
sists in this, that a Christian is free from the yoke of hu- 
man laws, and from ecclesiastical doctrines that have no 
ground in the Word and the Spirit of God, and also from 
the authority of all human views and doctrines which do 
not agree with God's Word. There is indeed a stage in 
our development when we cannot do otherwise than lean 
upon human authority, and when we must be content to 
have the truth at second-hand. That is the stage of mi- 
nority. We then believe on the authority of parents and 
teachers, of the wise and experienced. But when we have 
attained our majority, and are ourselves in a position to 
judge and decide, to test and undertake the responsibility 
for our convictions, then, with all recognition and regard 
towards human teachers, every human authority will have 
but a relative importance for us. Above all, we must shape 
out our own conviction as regards the highest truth and the 
matter of salvation, by placing ourselves in a direct rela- 
tion to the truth, and not only to the views that others 



CHRISTIAN LIBERTY. 



28-1 



have of the truth. And then it becomes us also to mani 
fest immovable fidelity towards recognized truth, even 
granting that it should have the majority of our contem- 
poraries and the spirit of the age against it. 

But the Reformation has not freed us from the yoke of 
human opinions and laws in order to free us from all and 
every authority, but because it would lead us back to the 
absolute authority, to God in Christ. The evangelical re- 
lation between Christian freedom and authority is this, that 
the Gospel of Christ, attests itself to the consciousness and 
conscience of men, through its original power of truth 
and grace, as the sun in the heaven proves its illuminating 
and warming power to every creature that is not placed out- 
side the domain of its influence. Christ's authority is not 
merely an external one, but becomes an internal one, 
through our union with him, and in this unity of its out- 
ward and inward revelation, as the authority of truth and 
grace, not only shows itself as confirming and promoting 
true freedom, but also as a communicating and quickening 
power. Then we understand from our inmost experience 
and realize that word of Christ : " If ye abide in my word, 
then are ye truly my disciples; and ye shall know the 
truth, and the truth shall make you free" (John 8: 31, 
32). And if we accept his testimony, and continue in his 
words, he will also containly lead us more and more, deeper 
and deeper into a knowledge of the truth, and unto the 
attainment of true freedom. 



282 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



SECTION II. 

CHRISTIAN LIBERTY AND THE WORLD. 

Temporal Goods and Evils. — In the same measure as our 
Christian liberty, our willing and action, gains the normal 
relation to the law, it enters equally into the normal rela- 
tion to the world, and to its temporal blessings and evils. 
Salvation, the eternal good, communion with and life in 
the Lord, is the great aim of search and pursuit, whereas 
happiness on this earth, the temporal good, health and 
long life, — all this is only conditionally pursued. What 
we men call accident, fortune, or misfortune, by the all- 
pervading and all-guiding providence of God, is changed 
into a means for our training and education. Temporal 
goods, if regarded from the view of divine providence, 
are divine gifts, and bring great responsibility, and em- 
brace weighty problems for the individual. Temporal evils 
mean problems, the solution of which lies in our recognizing 
the divine gifts and blessings which are hidden, and under 
the form of evil, and which the man by means of the work 
of the will's freedom is to develop and bring to light. 

Temporal goods and evils, therefore, are not indifferent, 
whether viewed from the objective standpoint of divine 
providence, or from the subjective standpoint. A Chris- 
tian cannot possibly occupy a position of stoical indiffer- 
ence to them. If a Christian were to regard temporal 
goods as entirely indifferent, he could neither thank God 
for temporal benefits, nor invoke him for the averting of 
temporal evils, or pray for divine assistance rightly to use 



CHRISTIAN LIBERTY. 



283 



the gifts God has bestowed. The gospel also expressly de- 
clares that temporal goods are not something indifferent, 
for it says, "Seek ye first his kingdom, and his righteous- 
ness ; and all these things shall be added unto you ' ' (Matt. 
6 : 33)- 

An overstrained asceticism, which has often appeared in 
the Christian Church, goes to the extreme of maintaining 
that temporal goods are not at all intended to be enjoyed, 
but intended merely to be sacrificed, — that suffering is the 
only normal form of a Christian's life. Accordingly, this 
asceticism comes to over-estimate temporal evils, attribu- 
ting to them an exclusive value. But such a view is also 
irreconcilable with apostolic Christianity. In 1 Cor. 7 : 
29-31, Paul by no means says that a Christian is to re- 
nounce and separate himself from temporal goods ; but he 
says that a Christian is to have them as one who has them 
not, and so is to be ever ready to yield them up as soon as 
the Lord requires it, — " for the fashion of this world pass- 
eth away." This is the frame of mind in which a Chris- 
tian is to use this world. But amid this frame of mind 
there lives the hope of an eternal salvation and glory. 

Honor and Dishonor. — If salvation and blessedness is 
the religious expression for the ideal of the personality, 
honor is the worldly expression. Internal honor and dig- 
nity, as the individual's consciousness of his worth in the 
moral order of the world, (" By the grace of God I am 
what I am," 1 Cor. 15: 10), — is inseparably connected 
with salvation itself. External honor, on the other hand, 
is the acknowledgment which human society allows to the 



284 CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



worth of the individual, or what we are in the idea of 
others, and is inseparable from our earthly calling, and the 
faithfulness connected with the exercise of that calling. It 
is right that we should strive to make ourselves worthy of 
external honor, which however is only an ideal relative 
good ; and if our honor is assailed, we are in case of neces- 
sity to defend ourselves. Indirectly, we at all times de- 
fend our assailed honor, if we, after the apostle's direction 
(i Pet. 2: 15), with well-doing, by good behaviour, put to 
silence the ignorance of foolish men. 

In certain circumstances it may become necessary to give 
a direct account to ourselves ; and here we can point to the 
example of the Apostle Paul (Galatians and 1 and 2 Corin- 
thians). Right self-defence, however, presupposes right 
self-knowledge, and if undertaken, will appear in a gentle 
spirit in which are combined dignity and humility, self-re- 
spect and modesty. A false dependence on honor appears 
now as vanity, and then again as ambition. The honor 
and respect which a Christian finds with men he must have 
as if he had it not, and must bear misconception with pa- 
tience, and in the consciousness that the Lord knows him, 
— with that self-respect that is rooted in humility and in the 
knowledge that he is following in the footsteps of his Sa- 
viour. 

Social Prosperity. — A good name, in connection with a 
prosperous activity in one's calling, may be fitly designated 
the highest among the relative goods of life. But there 
will still be a very essential lack in earthly happiness, if two 
things be not added w r hich appear most desirable for pri- 



CHRISTIAN LIBERTY. 



285 



vate life, — domestic happiness and friendship. In the fur- 
ther course of our work we will view family life and friend- 
ship from another side. Here we view both as rightly de- 
sired relative goods, which, when given, one seeks to pre- 
serve to himself. They are goods, not only because in several 
respects they support and help us in the prosecution of our 
calling, but because the moral satisfaction of our need of 
love in the peace of the domestic hearth, in mutual confi- 
dence and cordial cohesion, in sympathetic participation 
in good and evil days, in mutually removing and bearing 
personal burdens, is in itself something desirable, and be- 
cause herein also that utterance applies, "It is not good 
that the man should be alone " (Gen. 2 : 18). 

Yet there is a false dependence on family life and friend- 
ship. Such a dependence arises when we let ourselves be 
so taken possession of by them, be ruled in such measure 
by their influence and by regard for them, that higher du- 
ties and higher bonds of love are set aside, and do not get 
justice, — when we allow ourselves to be hindered by them 
from fulfilling what we owe to our earthly and heavenly 
calling. And with this is inseparably connected that our 
loved ones must not be in an absolute sense indispensable 
to us, and that we are therefore to have them as if we had 
them not, that is, so that we are ready to part from and to 
lose them, if the will of God commands, and that the 
thought of this possibility be always alive in our hearts. 
And when this possibility becomes a reality, when our be- 
loved ones are called away by death> the problem of the 
% Christian is to bear such a cross in the patience and faith 



286 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



of the saints, to let the pain be glorified in the conscious- 
ness that when the Lord withdraws earthly supports from 
us, he will train and teach us to hold to him as to our only- 
support (Ps. 73 : 25), in the consciousness that we yet be- 
long to a "community surviving every earthly one, namely, 
the congregation of his saints in heaven and on earth, and 
with the hope that finally in his kingdom all they shall bej 
reunited who truly belong to each other. 

Earthly Possession and Poverty. — Earthly possession is 
a good, so far as it furnishes a foundation for a free, inde- 
pendent human existence and development. But no man 
should seek greater possessions than he can in a moral sense 
transform into his true property, that he can really and fully 
make his own, and take into the service of the moral will 
and spirit. To possess money as a dead, unfruitful treasure, 
without having sense and understanding how to use it for 
the advancement of God's kingdom, is a great perversion 
of God's gifts. No one should so possess his property as 
to hang his heart on it, or let it be fettered thereby. 

A Christian should also at all times remain vividly con- 
scious that it may be required of him to follow his Lord 
also in poverty, in struggling with care for daily support. 
If when we are poor we are shielded from the temptations 
of riches, we must also strive to overcome the temptations 
of poverty, and in deed and in truth be followers of Christ. 
In the words of Agur we may pray : " Give me neither pov- 
erty nor riches ; feed me with the food that is needful for 
me ; lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the Lord ? 
Or lest I be poor, and steal and use profanely the name of 
my God " (Prov. 30 : 8, 9). 



CHRISTIAN LIBERTY. 



287 



Health and Sickness. — Earthly well-being is not only 
conditioned by earthly possession and property, but also 
by the harmony of the bodily organism, which we call 
health, without which all earthly activity, as well as all 
earthly enjoyment, if not made quite impossible, is at all 
events very much hindered. A superficial consideration 
might make us think that Christianity must despise the 
body as something unworthy of the spirit. On the con- 
trary, the truth is, that precisely the most spiritual of all 
religions is likewise that which most emphatically vindicates 
the importance of the body as an organ for the self-repre- 
sentation of the spirit. Christianity makes prominent the 
importance of corporality, not only by its doctrine of the 
resurrection of the body, but also by this, that it regards 
the body in the present life as the temple of the Holy 
Spirit, as also in Christ the eternal Word became flesh and 
blood, and dwelt bodily among us, and Christ did not arise 
as pure spirit, but in a glorified body. As Christianity 
will have our body regarded as the temple of the Holy 
Spirit, it thereby declares most strongly against every 
abuse and profanation of the body, against all undermin- 
ing of the health by immoderation and low passions, and 
makes it our duty to apply ourselves to the cultivation of 
the body for a worthy dwelling and a willing instrument of 
the spirit. 

To prevent and counteract a bondage of the spirit under 
the body, it is of the utmost importance that we strive as 
much as possible to get the body under our power. In 
this respect the gymnastic exercises of the old Greeks tes- 



288 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



tify to a right insight. In consequence of the present sin- 
fulness and disturbance of our true relation to God, it may 
very often become necessary for us, with the Apostle (i Cor. 
9 : 27), to treat our body not so much like an obedient ser- 
vant, but rather as one ever trying to rebel against the 
spirit and to dethrone.it from the mastery, so that the 
body must be constrained by the strictest discipline. This 
is the ascetic mode of view, and though this point of view 
is carried through one-sidedly by asceticism, yet it pre- 
serves its validity according to time and circumstances. 

As against the too anxious care for the health, and the 
weak yielding to bodily weaknesses, the rule of Schleier- 
macher often applies : One dare have no time to be sick. 
But though men may be unwilling, yet the Lord's will 
often bids that we shall have time for sickness, since it is 
he who throws us on the sick-bed. The purpose of time is 
that we are to ripen for eternity, that we are to pay atten- 
tion to our heavenly calling, to which the earthly one serves 
as a mere temporal husk. It is therefore an error to think 
that time is only given us for earthly labor and enjoyment, 
and that all else is but loss of time. Labor and enjoyment 
both do not suffice for the ripening and growth of the soul. 
Time is also given us for suffering," that we may learn the 
value of time, learn in it to wait and tarry in patience, to 
pay attention to our heavenly calling. For sickness is to 
subserve the healing and growth of the soul, that we may 
ripen in such quiet for eternal life, and prepare for our 
death. Precisely on [the sick-bed we become aware that 
health is only a relative good, and that one must be able to 



CHRISTIAN LIBERTY. 



289 



dispense with it, as with all else besides that belongs to 
earthly happiness, simply because the destiny of our life is 
not for this earth. Precisely like external poverty, bodily 
sickness may result from sin, although one must by no 
means from the sickness of the individual, or from his earth- 
ly need, without more ado, conclude his special sinfulness 
(John 9:3). The chief thing is that we make the right 
use of our sicknesses, which must be individualized for each 
person, according to his internal state. When believing 
Christians make the right use of sicknesses, there is also 
formed a Christian asceticism, as well as mysticism. As 
long as there is sickness on earth, it is provided that asceti- 
cism and mysticism shall not die out. In the sick person 
there is formed an asceticism, a continuous exercise of the 
art voluntarily to bear sufferings and deprivations, such as 
every sickness brings with it. And along with this there 
is likewise developed a Christian mysticism, an internal 
union with the Lord, a mystical love in the intercourse of 
prayer with him. But this mystical communion of life 
and suffering with Christ is conditioned by the humble 
self-knowledge, whether the sickness be a chastisement or 
a trial. Man has no better opportunity for self-knowledge 
than that which is given in sickness. 

Life or Death. — The preservation and prolongation of 
life must not be desirable for its own sake, but for the sake 
of the spiritual contents of which it is the bearer. There- 
fore, self-defence, when our life is assailed, may become a 
duty ; but for the same reason it may also become a duty 
to sacrifice our life, when the higher problem of life 
20 



290 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



requires it. False dependence on life expresses itself as 
fear of death, a fear that can only be thoroughly overcome 
from the standpoint of Christianity. Christian love of life 
consists in this, that one lives it after its true worth, 
namely, as a preparation and outer court to the future life. 
A Christian, therefore, lives his life here below as one who 
is familiar with thoughts of death, and at every hour is 
ready for the coming of the Lord ; he lives in the hope and 
view of the other world. When one thus lives his life in 
Christian communion with God, then a soul first gets light 
upon this earthly life. 

To live his earthly life on all sides as fully as possible, is 
a wish that in itself cannot be called wrong or improper. 
We only once live on this earth. Only once can we do 
the earthly day's work, and what is not done under this 
sun, before the night approaches, remains undone. Al- 
though the life of love in heaven is the perfeet life, yet our 
life on earth has its special glory, its peculiar blessings from 
the Lord. It is a natural, a genuine human wish to be- 
come old, to live long on earth. But we dare never for- 
get that this life, despite its relative self-worth, is yet at 
bottom only a means and a preparation for a hereafter, that 
our last and proper goal is by no means happiness on this 
earth, but bliss in heaven. From this point of view it 
must be regarded as a grace to become old, because a 
longer space of time is thereby granted to us to ripen for 
eternity. 

Our Lord's example shows us that the worth of life does 
not depend on the length of it, and that in a life of short 



CHRISTIAN LIBERTY. 



291 



duration an infinite fulness of life may be compassed. And 
the all-important thing, at the exit from this life, is, what 
treasure have we gained in this life, that we can take over 
with us into the future kingdom. For in the state after 
death all earthly ornaments are stripped off, and each one 
is only himself, and only brings that with him which in the 
most proper and inmost sense is his own. But our proper 
self and our inalienable treasure are not our earthly expe- 
riences as such ; nor is our true self and treasure, our geni- 
us and talent, nor yet our knowledge. The kernel of our 
being is the will, and the treasure in question in that king- 
dom of the future is the contents of the will, which in the 
course of the present life we have appropriated and 
wrought out. Thus, when we quit this life, all depends on 
the answer to the question, On what hast thou set thy will ? 
If thou hast set thy will on God's Kingdom, thou then at- 
tainest thy home, in which the hidden treasure of thy 
heart shall become manifest. The chief thing, then, re- 
mains not to die until our will be dead to this world, until 
it is placed under the obedience of Christ, " Not my will, 
but Thine be done." Therefore the chief requirement 
that life makes of us is to use the time of this life as a time 
of grace. " Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the 
earth ; . . but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven." 
(Matt. 6: 19, 20). 

Weariness of Life and Suicide. — False dependence on 
life has its counterpart in weariness of life and dislike of 
life, a feeling which springs from various causes, partly 
physical and partly moral. Such a feeling is a special 



292 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



form of hypochondria, which latter we may designate as a 
disharmony of the spiritual and bodily organism, as some- 
thing sinful that is to be fought against. Such a spirit of 
weariness and indifference about life,— apart from dietetic 
means, which in many cases are to be applied, — must be 
fought against, above all things, by regular work, in which 
the individual can forget himself, as also by living together 
with men, and by intercourse with nature. While weari- 
ness and disgust of life mainly spring from an unfruitfully 
contemplative tendency, and a leisurely occupation with 
one thing, it may also proceed from altogether contrary 
causes, namely, living and moving in an excess of enjoy- 
ments, as in the case with many people of the world, to 
whom faith in Christ, would bring healing. 

When weariness of life and the feeling of the intoler- 
ableness of life has culminated, it may lead, as experience 
teaches, to suicide, which may be caused either by pre- 
dominant hypochondria, even without a special occasion ; 
or by a man falling into despair on account of his passions, 
that he has vainly sought to fight against, so that his very 
existence becomes an intolerable burden to him ; or by 
despair on account of misdeeds done (as Judas Iscariot) ; 
or by any other great adversity, e. g. the loss of honor, or 
of fortune, and so on. 

To the Christian, suicide is the climax of all offence 
against the body and the life of the body, and therein also 
against the Lord himself, the giver of this life, and of the 
season of grace vouchsafed in this life. The great sin com- 
mitted in suicide consists in this, that the man at once 



CHRISTIAN LIBERTY. 



2 93 



tears himself loose from all his duties, especially from obe- 
dience to God, who has placed him in the order of things, 
in which he should fulfil the will of God not only by act- 
ing, but also by bearing and expiating ; in this, that he by 
his own power bursts open the gate of death, and presses 
uncalled into the world beyond. 

It is the problem of the Christian, if it be God's will, to 
survive all our earthly goods and hopes, and patiently to 
suffer, even if one had to suffer like Job. It is just this 
suffering and patience for which the suicide finds no cour- 
age, wherefore in his folly he flees from one evil, to meet 
another far greater still. If suicide has become so fre- 
quent in our days, the reason for this is, that unbelief, for- 
getfulness of God, denial of a future life, has become so 
frequent, that even in the midst of Christendom, many 
live with a heathen way of thinking. 

Death. — That death as the last crisis is a gain can only 
be declared in the true meaning of the word by a Chris- 
tian. To have endured death, to have rightly passed 
through it, means, that one has endured it in faith, has 
died in Christ. In itself death has indeed its terror, and 
that proceeds from this, that death is the wages of sin ; 
and although it has lost its sting, and there is no more con- 
demnation to them that are in Christ Jesus (Rom. 8 : i), 
yet bodily death remains the last form under which the 
Christian is to die to this world and sacrifice his own will, 
his natural self-love t.o the will of God. To endure and 
" overcome " death, means to will to die after the will of 
the Lord, and to die in justifying faith, in full confidence 
in the saving grace of God in Christ. 



294 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



As the hour of death is so uncertain, we must make sure 
that the hour when it strikes does not find us unprepared 
(Mark 13 : 35, which may also here be applied). To 
many, too, a swift and unexpected death is allotted. 
Therefore we must at all times preserve faith in the heart. 

Christian Contentment and Joy in Life. — From the hith- 
erto unfolded conduct in regard to temporal goods and 
evils proceed Christian contentment and joy in life. The 
contentment of a Christian consists in this, that amid all 
change of things, God and God's kingdom is enough for 
him ; and that he can only satisfy himself so far as his life 
is rooted in God and his kingdom. The Christian art of 
happiness, as we may call it, the Christian direction to true 
and abiding joy in life, we can comprehend in the follow- 
ing sayings : (1) " Seek ye first the kingdom of God and 
his righteousness," Matt. 6: 33; (2) "My grace is suffi- 
cient for thee", 2 Cor. 12 : 9 ; and (3) ''Be ye thank- 
ful", Col. 3: 15. 

The first rule, " Seek ye first the kingdom of God," 
embraces in it not only the requirement of love to God, 
and man, but likewise designates the life- maxim, without 
which we become involved in an internal contradiction, 
that makes all repose of mind impossible. The second 
rule, "My grace is sufficient for thee", makes us con- 
scious that as we can be satisfied with nothing else but the 
highest, so that highest shall also really satisfy us. If we 
apply this to actual life and its manifold states, it means 
that every one shall be satisfied with his own calling and 
his own position, and find his joy therein ; that we are not 



CHRISTIAN LIBERTY. 295 

to seek our joy in the extraordinary and remote, but in 
what lies near us. And then, to be satisfied with the grace 
of God means also that we exercise ourselves in resigna- 
tion, familiarize ourselves with the consciousness that per- 
fect happiness in the present life, where virtue ever remains 
so imperfect, is simply impossible, and that we possess the 
perfect good only in hope. This passage also implies that 
God's grace is sufficient to overcome all obstacles, and that 
God's power is made perfect in our weakness if we only 
put our complete trust in him. But amid all resignation 
and trust we are to learn an unbounded thankfulness for 
the unspeakable blessings which God has given and still 
gives us, and all from mere fatherly goodness and mercy, 
without any merit and worthiness on our part. Sorrow, 
care, and discontent, have very often their foundation in 
unthankfulness, in a state of mind that will only make 
claims, but not give thanks. 

The true and essential joy is joy in the Lord (Phil. 4 : 
4). We can distinguish between peace and joy in the com- 
munion of our God and Saviour. For peace is the inward 
testimony that reconciliation with God is accomplished 
within us, that we have been reconciled with God, 
and by faith have found salvation and grace with him. 
Joy denotes not only that the opposition is removed, but 
also that we are living and moving in the new, blessed ful- 
ness of life. A man may have peace with God without 
likewise rejoicing in God, although the first ought always 
to lead to the second. When joy pervades the mind it 
feels raised above all sadness and sorrow ; then the man 



296 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



has not only the right feeling of his reconciliation with 
God, but also of his life in God. To all who complain 
that they cannot attain to joy, we cry again and again, 
Plunge yourself more deeply into the peace of God, only 
learn to thank more heartily, only fill your soul yet more 
with admiring adoration of the love and glory of God, 
and you will become joyful. 



I 



CHAPTER III. 

STAGES OF HOLINESS. 



SECTION I. 

CHRISTIAN DEVELOPMENT OF CHARACTER. 

Stages of Holiness. — In holiness there are not only 
stronger or weaker degrees, but also different stages. When 
discussing the stages of holiness we may distinguish be- 
tween beginners, the progressive, and the perfect. This 
distinction is, however, only relative, and continually 
changing. Especially the term perfect, no doubt a bibli- 
cal term (Matt. 5: 48; 19: 21; 1 Cor. 2:6; Heb. 6: 
1), can only be understood relatively, for an absolute per- 
fection is not reached on this earth, and the Apostle Paul, 
who yet certainly belonged to the number of the perfect, 
says of himself in his later life, " Not that I have already 
obtained, or am already made perfect," (Phil. 3 : 12). 
Nevertheless, the division given has its value, inasmuch as 
all life, and so too the Christian, incontestably has a begin- 
ning, a progress, and a completion. 

The important thing here is, above all to have the right 
standard for progress. This standard we have in the rela- 
tion which the freedom of man's will occupies to the law of 

(297) 



298 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



God, With beginners in the Christian life, freedom, or 
our moral willing, is reconciled \vith the law, that is, free- 
dom and grace are found in immediate unity, in that they 
realize that they have obtained justification by faith, and 
as God's children feel themselves redeemed from the bon- 
dage of the law. In the enthusiasm of first love, and in 
the joy at paradise regained, the opposition between duty 
and love is done away. The burden of Christ appears to 
be light to them, while they do not yet know from experi- 
ence, that in order to be able to appropriate the cross of 
Christ in its full meaning, serious trials must first be under- 
gone. Beginners grow and increase in all quietness, but 
can only be reckoned among the more advanced, in the 
stricter sense, when they too are led into the trials of life, 
and endure in them. Progress is shown in the increasing 
dominion of the spirit over the flesh, in that it becomes 
easier to us to overcome ourselves, as also to gain the vic- 
tory over besetting sins, even over the special weakness be- 
longing to our peculiar disposition. Progress, moreover, 
not only makes itself felt in the practical direction, but in 
the contemplative and mystical as well. It is a mark of 
progress that we do not in our Christian knowledge remain 
standing at the first elements, but "press on unto perfec- 
tion" (Heb. 6 : 1), so that we may "apprehend with all 
the saints what is the breadth and length and height and 
depth, and to know the love of Christ which passeth 
knowledge" (Eph. 3: 18, 19), so that we are in a posi- 
tion to "prove the spirits, whether they are of God" (1 
John 4 : 1), and no longer allow ourselves, what so easily 



STAGES OF HOLINESS. 



299 



happens to un established minds, to be "tossed to and fro 
and carried about with every wind of doctrine " (Eph. 4 : 
14), but amid the struggles of the present time stand firm 
and unmovable, faithful to the truth, and upright in love. 
Progress is also recognizable in this, that we learn ever bet- 
ter to strive and continue in prayer. For prayer is in any 
case the fundamental condition of all progress. The ordi- 
nary criterion by which we become aware that we are mak- 
ing progress is quiet peace and glad courage for living. 

The perfect, in the strictest sense of the word, would be 
those in whom freedom and grace were in quite unbroken 
harmony, and the will of God was perfectly fulfilled. To 
this stage, however, no one attains in this life, except ap- 
proximately. Even if there are those who in a definite di- 
rection attain to perfection and mastery, in respect to cer- 
tain temptations against which they no longer need to 
struggle, — yet still there remain imperfections in them in 
other directions. 

States of Holiness. — As one may speak of stages of ho- 
liness, so, too, of states of holiness. Although the union 
of grace and freedom is in principle given in regeneration, 
yet it must be gradually developed under a continued mu- 
tual working of grace and freedom. Two states may be 
distinguished in the inner life of the Christian, — of re- 
freshment on the one hand, and on the other of inward 
drought and abandonment ; on the one hand of peace, on 
the other of temptation ; on the one hand of peace and 
joy, on the other of unrest and anxiety. 

We must familiarize ourselves with the thought that we 



3oo 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



are here in a land of changes, and that only under a suc- 
cession of light and darkness, of fulness and want, of sor- 
row and joy, can we ripen for everlasting bliss. In hours 
of elevation we should prepare ourselves for trials and 
struggles ; in hours of fulness of blessing, for the time of 
want and abandonment. And conversely, in times of 
trial we should remember those blessed hours in which 
God gave us a pledge of grace, and expect their return. 
But amid all the changes that overtake us we should hold 
to God's word, whose truth and grace is independent of 
our changing moods and feelings ; should remain confi- 
dent that even in states of deepest abandonment God the 
Lord is still with us, though his face may be veiled to us. 

In practical life one may distinguish between states and 
moods of active zeal, combined with clearness of spirit, 
watchful thought, and prudence, and states and moods of 
weariness, when we are lax, weak, and seem indifferent, 
when we need the exhortation again to " lift up the hands 
that hang down, and the palsied knees, and make straight 
paths for your feet" (Heb. 12: 12, 13). This state of 
spiritual languor, if no powerful opposition be made 
against it, passes into that of lukewarmness (Rev. 3 : 15), 
— a state in which it may always be assumed that the 
deeper needs of the spirit and heart have been thrust aside, 
if they are not on the point of entire extinction. Akin to 
this state of languor and lukewarmness is spiritual slumber, 
and the state of drowsiness, when we go on in a dream- 
like state of stupefaction, when the lamp of the spirit is 
extinguished, as with those five foolish virgins in the para- 



STAGES OF HOLINESS, 



301 



ble (Matt. 25 : 1-13). And such a state of slumber very 
easily passes over into the state of spiritual death. These 
states of sleep and death often occur in men whose Christi- 
anity has sunk down to an outward Christianity of habit, 
where one has the forms of Christianity, but without oil. 
These are all dangerous states, against which we must 
watch and pray. No Christian life may fully escape them, 
and only grace can again awaken us and bring us back into 
the state of lively and joyful zeal. 

Development of Christian Character. — Amid all the 
growth and struggle of sanctification, amid its various 
states, the Christian character is developed and ripens. 
But as the development of Christian character is not a 
mere process of nature, but a development in the sphere of 
moral freedom where God and man are the two chief fac- 
tors, there emerges the problem, at every moment of the 
history of our development, to prove " what is the good 
and acceptable and perfect will of God" concerning us 
(Rom. 12 : 2). And to know the will of God is not only 
to know his will in general as this is revealed in the law 
and the gospel, but to know his will concerning us, as well 
in special cases, as also in our personal life as a whole. We 
must therefore ever pay attention to the voices of God, 
and this is especially necessary at the turning-points of our 
life, when an epoch of our education is closed, and the 
Lord will lead us over to a new epoch. Such . turning- 
points and crises in the development of character may 
proceed at times purely from within, but very frequently 
they occur in connection with changes of the external sit- 



3° 2 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



uation of life. In all these cases the great thing is not to 
miss " the acceptable time, the day of salvation " (2 Cor. 
6 : 2), not to ignore God's will toward us. 

As long as a man exists on earth, so long there still re- 
mains an opportunity for the development of his character, 
there still exists the possibility of turning. Grace affords 
us renewed times of repentance and faith, in which we 
could become conscious of our failures and wanderings, 
turn from them, and be renewed in the inner man. But 
in all circumstances it is important to redeem the time 
(Eph. 5 : 16). And most men who, in an hour of clear 
reflection, look back upon their life, will acknowledge that 
much has been neglected, not only in the highest and ho- 
liest, but also in humble earthly respects, because we did 
not use the decisive moment when we had a choice given 
us. General rules cannot be laid down, for all this can 
only be judged after individual circumstances. As regards 
the highest and holiest relation of our soul, all is expressed 
in the one word, " Watch and pray." Always have oil in 
your lamps, for we know not the day nor the hour when 
we must give an account of our stewardship. And when 
death comes we shall appear before God as we are, our in- 
most being shall then be revealed in his holy presence. 

Falling from Grace. — As a fall into sin by the regener- 
ate man is ever a relapse into the old worldly state, and 
thereby brings with it a relative loss of grace, the question 
arises whether it is conceivable and possible that a Chris- 
tian character should absolutely fall from the state of grace, 
from a state of righteousness and holiness, so that he who at 



STAGES OF HOLINESS. 



3°3 



one time was a member of the kingdom of God, would 
after all be finally lost. The theologians of the Lutheran 
Church (except Martensen) affirm that it is the teaching of 
Scripture that a Christian may fall from grace, while the 
theologians of the Calvinistic school of thought as de- 
cisively deny that there can be any absolute fall from grace 
on the part of one who at one time was truly regenerated. 
In cases where experience seems to witness that persons 
once regenerated have wholly fallen from grace, these lat- 
ter, maintain, either that the fall from grace has not really 
taken place, or, that regeneration had not really taken 
place, but was only an awakening, about which men are 
liable to the greatest delusions. 

There is within the whole compass of Christian ethics 
no point which so much needs to be considered with fear 
and trembling, and to be guarded on every side, as that 
which lies before us. For in none is the delicate and sa- 
cred boundary line so easily injured, which protects the 
joyousness of believing confidence in the grace of God, 
on the one hand against despondency, and on the other 
against presumption. 

What is true in the Calvinistic view lies in this, that the 
new life which has been implanted by the working of the 
Holy Spirit in the heart and mind of the believer is a di- 
vine act and abides in man, with more or less power as an 
active principle, as long as the man lives on earth. That 
work of God in his heart, known as the new life, the new 
birth, the divine principle of life, lies hidden in his inner 
personality, even in him who has fallen the deepest from 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



the grace of God, and though it may be covered with rub- 
bish and the divine life may be almost smothered, never- 
theless by repentance and faith, by conversion, by the awa- 
kening wrought by the Spirit through the Word of God, 
this hidden divine principle of life, can be fanned again 
into flame, and the divine life permeate the whole person- 
ality, — and such a repentance is open unto every fallen 
Christian, up to the very hour of his death, unless he has 
committed the unpardonable sin. In this lies the truth of 
the Calvinistic view. But the Scriptures very clearly im- 
ply that a Christian may fall from grace, not only for a 
time, but be forever lost. All we need to do is but to 
glance at the admonitions and warnings laid down in the 
New Testament. They not merely hold up before us pos- 
sibilities and actualities of wandering from the truth, of 
making shipwreck of the faith (i Tim. i : 19), of apos- 
tasy from the living God (Heb. 3 : 12; 6 : 6), and of fall- 
ing into ungodliness of every sort, but they also require 
positive activity in order to make our calling and election 
w sure (2 Pet. 1 : 10), and speak of a faithfulness even unto 
death (Rev. 2 : 10), and of a holding fast of the begin- 
ning of our confidence firm unto the end, as the condition 
under which alone we are at liberty really to regard our- 
selves as fellow-partakers or fellow-heirs of Christ (Heb. 3 : 
14). It is also certain that the prediction of an impend- 
ing general apostasy forms the dark back-ground to the 
prophecies which refer to the kingdom of Christ and its 
history (Matt. 24: 5, n, 12, 24; 2 Thess. 2: 3-12; 1 
Tim. 4: 1; 1 John 2 : 18 ; 2 Pet. 3:3; Jude 18). 1 

1 Compare Heirless, \ 29. 



STAGES OF HOLINESS. 



SECTION II. 

CHRISTIAN ASCETICS. 

The Object of Christian Ascetics. — If a Christian, al- 
though in full assurance of grace, must yet, in the earnest- 
ness of holy anxiety work and labor that he may be saved, 
and amid the labor of his heavenly, likewise accomplish 
the works of his earthly calling to which the Lord has 
called him, certainly he will also use the means of advance- 
ment offered to him, will abstain from all that can hinder 
him, and exercise the abilities that are of service to him in 
this. And so we meet the conception of Christian Ascet- 
ics. The object of ascetics is dominion of the spirit over 
the flesh, combating all self-exaltation and pride, as well as 
lust of the flesh and of the eyes (i John 2 : 16). As the 
perfection of character consists in its purity, its energy, 
and its harmony, ascetic actions may be grouped essen- 
tially in this three-fold direction. 

Purity of Character. — As purity of character depends 
on purity of sentiment, the ascetic actions belonging to 
this will be chiefly the contemplative — mystical : study of 
the divine Word, prayer, participation in public worship, 
and partaking of the Lord's Supper. These actions, which 
in their nature must likewise be held as independent ends, 
become in this connection lowered to means, in that we 
prescribe to ourselves an order, a regular use, in order here- 
by to promote on all sides the dominion of spirit within 
us, to combat sin, and to cultivate the higher life. As the 
indispensable condition of purity of character is self- 
21 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS, 



knowledge, we need continually, in the spirit of Christ, to 
examine ourselves. While experienced Christians need to 
appoint no definite hours for self-examination, because a 
spirit of self-examination pervades their whole life, it is ne- 
cessary for the less advanced to observe definite hours in 
which they may prove themselves in the light of God's 
Word. 

Energy of Character. — In addition to self-knowledge we 
may name self-denial as the second chief ascetic means that 
is to be applied to cultivate true chastity and energy of 
character, in contrast to the lust of the flesh and the lust 
of the eyes. Self-denial, however, implies more than self- 
control. Self-control is the dominion of the will over our 
nature, over inclination and temperament, and therewith 
likewise over all that is meant to be the organ of the will, 
its ministering instrument, bodily as well as spiritual. But 
self-control in itself may still be in the service of egoism, 
of selfishness, — whereas the essence of self-denial consists 
in killing selfishness in its root, not merely this or that in- 
clination. Self-control in itself ever holds fast to self, 
while in self-denial, self is just what is sacrificed, while our 
will entirely submits to the divine will, and the man him- 
self dies with Christ to live with him. It is only self-de- 
nial that leads not only to outward, bodily, but also to in- 
ward chastity. 

Without self-control, however, self-denial and obedience 
cannot be carried out. To true self-control belongs not 
only the power of the will to be lord over our bodily or- 
gans, but also over our world of thought, and of fancy or 



STAGES OF HOLINESS. 



imagination. But as it belongs to self-control to keep 
oneself free and independent of all impure, irregularly 
roving fancies, so also from dim feelings, accidental moods 
and humors, which are often connected with states of the 
body, and arise from the unconscious domain of our being. 
The first thing, therefore, that is necessary, if we are to re- 
main independent of the deceptions of the fancy, of the 
change of feelings and moods, is this, that we make for 
ourselves firm principles, definite rules and purposes, and 
keep to them amid all changes. But that such principles 
may become and continue effectual, it is not only requisite 
that the will be sanctified, but also the organs, bodily and 
spiritual, must be cultivated in the service of holiness, that 
they may come, even without special effort, to work of 
themselves in a normal direction, and be ready to serve 
the will. The more perfectly our sanctification is carried 
out, the more will principle, inclination, and habit, coin- 
cide, the more will the organs, with ease and without re- 
sistance, move in the same direction as the will. On the 
other hand, the more imperfect sanctification is, there is the 
more conflict between the will and the organs, which last 
have then a tendency to anarchy, and would go their own 
way. It becomes then the more necessary for maintaining 
the dominion of the moral will, and that we prescribe to 
ourselves ascetic dietetics and gymnastics. 

Ascetic dietetics is at the same time bodily and spiritual. 
It aims at the recovering of the health of the entire man, 
by bringing back the personal organism to its right mea- 
sure, and restoring the right relation between abstinence 



3 o8 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



and enjoyment, exertion and rest. Now as the chief form 
of sin in every human individual is twofold, namely, sen- 
suality and pride, such means especially must be applied as 
are adapted not only to make the man sober and chaste, 
but also humble. Fasting and prayer are the two chief 
means that the Church from of old has commended to be- 
lievers, and which, in combination and rightly applied, 
have also really approved themselves as the right means. 
All who need ascetics at all will also need at certain times, 
and in a certain degree, and will impose it on themselves, 
to abstain from certain enjoyments, although allowable in 
themselves (Rom. 13: 13, 14). In every case, however, 
bodily dietetic must go hand in hand with the spiritual, 
without which the former can only be of little use. In a 
spiritual point of view, it may also be needful for us to 
prescribe to ourselves a certain abstinence. For although 
"to the pure all things are pure" (Tit. 1 : 15), yet, in 
fact, but few are pure. We may lay it down as a rule that 
a Christian must be very critical with reference to what he 
allows to enter his soul, and with what he occupies him- 
self, especially in the choice of his reading, both as regards 
its quality and quantity. 

Along with prayer and fasting, the old ascetics gave the 
counsel that it was well often to think of death and the 
judgment. 

While the ascetic dietetic aims to lead back the organ- 
ism to its right measure, and to bring it into the right or- 
der, the ascetic gymnastic aims to train the bodily as well 
as the spiritual organism to strength, dexterity, and relia- 



STAGES OF HOLINESS. 3°9 

bility. We should exercise the bodily and mental abilities 
that are necessary for our life. For the cultivation of all 
our organs is of benefit to us in the work of our calling ; 
and, what is the chief thing in a personal point of view, 
we are thereby exercised in self-control and self-conquest. 
Exercise consists in repetition, and repetition becomes our 
habit. 

Harmony of Character. — Where there is a harmony of 
character there must also be a richness of character, the 
spiritual power to embrace the manifold phenomena of life 
as a means of growth in the kingdom of God. To culti- 
vate this harmony of character the following means are to 
be employed : above all the study of the Word of God, 
read with open eyes and ears ; then intercourse with na- 
ture, the study of history, as also intercourse with men of 
various circles of society of culture. We may also add, to 
live in one's time, to keep the eye open for all that is 
stirring in the present, yet subordinating everything to the 
spirit of the kingdom of God. 

We may therefore close this discussion of Individual 
Ethics, by summing up our results : Self-knowledge and 
self-denial, in connection with self-control, to which we 
also add the free and fresh activity of the spirit that un- 
folds itself in self-forgetfulness and surrender, — these are 
what must be exercised that humility and obedience, chas- 
tity and sympathetic righteousness may be developed in the 
individual, and thereby love and evangelical liberty may 
take shape within us, and become character. But what 
must ever be kept in view is, that we strive toward the 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



standpoint and the stage of the Christian life where Asce- 
tics is superfluous, where that which in ascetic only serves 
as means, becomes a living element in love, is assumed into 
and pervaded by love. The best school for the formation 
of our character is the sphere of life and of sufferings into 
which the Lord himself sends us. 

Within the family, the State, and the Church, our char- 
acter must develop and take its shape as moral life, as 
constituent members of society, and to these topics we now 
call your attention. Within these circles each individual 
finds his special task, where exercise in virtue coincides 
with the actual practice, and where the individual is to la- 
bor for his personal perfection, while he likewise labors for 
the perfection of the whole. 



SOCIAL ETHICS. 



THE MORAL LIFE OF SOCIETY AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD. 



CHAPTER I. 

THE FAMILY. 



SECTION I. 

THE FAMILY AND THE MORAL WORLD. 

The Moral Life of Society. — -„The moral life of society- 
is developed in the Family, the State, and the Church, 
which latter is the Communion of Saints. The individ- 
ual ought to be a member of each of these circles, and 
to occupy with respect to them a relation at once of co- 
operation and appropriation, of toleration and devotion, 
while constantly aiming at his own perfection as well as the 
perfection of the whole. One essential side of man's des- 
tination is displayed in each of these social circles, and the 
purpose of Christianity is to develop the "new man" 
within each. It is in proportion as the Christian ideal of 
human nature is realized in them that the kingdom of God 
attains a social, and at the same time an individual, ap- 
pearance on earth,— the Kingdom of God, however, neither 

(3") 



312 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



does nor can attain its perfection in this world. These 
forms are only intended for this earthly and temporal ex- 
istence, and in their deepest import are but preparatory 
and educational. It is by living in this fore-court that we 
are trained for the perfect kingdom of love, righteousness, 
liberty and blessedness, in which both the divine and the 
human, the community and the individual, together with 
man's various gifts and powers, will be exhibited in a har- 
mony as yet inconceivable, and requiring a dispensation 
utterly different from the present. 

The Family the beginning of the Moral World. — The 
family is the beginning and foundation of the moral world, 
and not the individual as philosophers like Kant, Fichte, 
and others maintain. This world is ever beginning anew, 
as it were over again, with the family. Such thinkers 
wholly forget, though the fact is daily before their eyes, 
that birth and education, generation and tradition, are in- 
evitable conditions of the physical and intellectual life of 
the human individual. That marriage and the family form 
the beginning of the human race is also the view of revela- 
tion, which makes the whole race descend from one pair. 

The family, then, reflects within its particular limits, 
the general type and order of the moral world, though this 
is individualized under very various forms upon the differ- 
ent stages of social life. This type, which is to be increas- 
ingly worked out, is that essential equality of differing per- 
sonalities created in the image of God which after all exists 
in the midst of a system of inequalities. For even in the 
family it is evident that human beings are not appointed to 



THE FAMILY. 



3 J 3 



a uniform equality, but to social inequality. The family 
exhibits in all respects, by the relation of husband and 
wife, between parents and children, whether male, or fe- 
male, between elder and younger brothers and sisters, be- 
tween masters and servants, not a uniform equality, but a 
relation of superiority and subordination, a contrast be- 
tween authority and dutifulness, — differences which are not 
to be obliterated, but harmonized and transfigured to a true 
religious and moral equality, by love and by the higher de- 
velopment of human nature. 

As the family thus sets before us the social type for the 
moral world with respect to the mutual relations of man- 
kind, so does it also reflect the type for the relation in which 
the moral world is to stand to nature, by bringing to our 
notice both property and labor. For a family can neither be 
founded nor maintained without property, such an amount 
of temporal possessions as is necessary to an existence com- 
patible with the dignity of human nature, whether we speak 
of the mere necessaries of life or of its enjoyments. Prop- 
erty must, however, be obtained, and that by labor ; and 
it was to the first husband that the command was given, 
" In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread " (Gen. 3 : 
19), including also the thought, In the sweat of thy face 
shalt thou provide for thine own. The foundation of prop- 
erty, therefore, cannot be individualistic, that is to say, it 
cannot begin with the individual man alone, but must be 
founded on the idea of the moral and legal community. 
It is certain that property cannot attain its full development 
or meaning before the appearance of the State. But the 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



very existence of property is assumed by the existence of 
the family. And even within the family it is evident that 
property has not merely an individual, but also a social im- 
portance ; it is a matter affecting not only an individual 
member, but the whole family, and so far as the possessions 
of the father are transferred to the children as heirs. That 
children are the lawful heirs of their parents is a principle 
which pervades the entire Scriptures (Gen. 15 : 3; Luke 
15 : 12 ; Gal. 4: 1). 

Christianity has given the Family its true Moral Impor- 
tance. — In the ancient heathen world the family forms mere- 
ly a point of departure for political life, as can be seen 
from Plato. But Christianity, which recognizes not only 
in man but in woman, the immortal human being with his 
celestial dignity, and which distinguishes between the outer 
and the inner man, has given to the family an importance 
of its own independent of the State, by means of which it 
appears as a form under which the Kingdom of God upon 
earth is manifested as a training-school not only for the 
State, but also for the Church of Christ. It is in the fami- 
ly, by childlike reverence and dutifulness, confidence and 
submission, love and fidelity, that the corresponding relig- 
ious and moral elements of Christian faith and love, a life 
of communion with God, of willing submission to his holy 
law and Gospel, are early developed in the soul. It is upon 
the family that the stability of the Church rests, and it is 
only when the family recognizes its membership, not only 
in the State, but in the Church of Christ, that it can fulfill 
its vocation. The family and the Church are in very truth 



THE FAMILY. 



315 



the upholding and preserving circles within the moral world. 
It is by means of these alone, that authority and freedom, 
obedience and dutifulness, self-sacrificing love and fidelity, * 
these main pillars of the moral world, are founded and 
erected in the human soul. Every renovation of national 
vigor, every thorough reformation, must proceed chiefly 
from these two circles ; and the cure of any diseases which 
may have penetrated them, must first of all be effected, un- 
less the entire condition is to be regarded as incurable. So 
long as the Church proclaims the pure Gospel, and the peo- 
ple lend a willing ear thereto, so long as family life is on 
the whole pure, the possibility of rearing up again a ruined 
nationality still exists. Matters are in the most irretrievable 
condition when both Church and family have been infect- 
ed by corruption, and have become incapable of reform. 

Marriage. — The beginning of the family is marriage. 
Upon the natural basis of the distinction of the sexes, mar- 
riage is the uniting of man and woman into one personal- 
ity. That partialness of individuality implied in the rela- 
tion of the sexes is to be abolished in marriage, by the fact 
that each receives to itself its counterpart, the man thus 
first becoming a man, and the woman a woman, in the 
truest sense of the word. It is in this relation of recipro- 
city, this mutual help and assistance, this giving and taking,, 
that each part first attains its true manhood or womanhood, 
and neither the physical nor the moral capabilities of either 
the male or female nature can be developed without this 
relation. If indeed marriage is regarded only in its na- 
tural aspect, no other vocation is allotted to it but the sat- 



316 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



isfaction of natural instinct, and the propagation of the 
race. But perverted and partial as such a view is, the op- 
posite mode of regarding it, which considers marriage as 
a so-called Platonic attachment, exclusively a relation of 
heart and intellect, is no less partial. , 

Monogamous Marriage. — It is implied in the very notion 
of marriage that it should be monogamous, a relation be- 
tween one man and one woman, whom only death can 
part. Heathendom exhibits in polygamy the profanation 
of marriage ; nor was its purity maintained even in Israel, * 
as is evident from the history of the patriarchs. Christi- 
anity, however, restored the dignity of marriage as a 
divine institution, as descending from Paradise (Matt. 19 : 
5), reauthorized monogamy, and recommended it to the 
moral consciousness by raising woman to the dignity of a 
free personality, and recognizing her as a fellow-heir of the 
grace of life (1 Pet. 3 : 7). 

Celibacy. — Though Christianity attributes so great a val- 
ue to marriage, that, so far as its conditions exist, it must 
be regarded as a duty incumbent on each to enter into 
matrimony as a state appointed to him or her, yet there 
has existed in the Church from the very first an ascetic ten- 
dency, which has regarded celibacy as the higher and ho- 
lier condition. Now, though much that is spurious and 
pernicious has been the practical effect of this ascetic view, 
yet, as involving a deeper element of truth, it must not be 
rejected without further examination. We find some points 
of contact in the New Testament, for the same apostle 
who so emphatically extols the sacredness of marriage 



THE FAMILY. 



(Eph. 5 ; 28-32), and even says that they who " forbid 
to marry " give heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of 
demons (1 Tim. 4 : 1-3), attributes a special holiness to 
celibacy. He recommends it not only " by reason of the 
present distress " (1 Cor. 7: 26),/. e. the perils entailed 
upon the Corinthian Christians by persecution, which the * 
unmarried might more easily endure than the married, who 
would be entangled with cares for wife and children, — but 
he unmistakably regards a single life as in itself better and 
happier, if the individual possesses the same gift for it 
which the Apostle had (1 Cor. 7: 1, 7, 32, 34). St. Paul 
also plainly gives us to understand that prayer is hindered 
by the marriage relation, by advising married persons to 
separate for a time that they may give themselves to fasting 
and prayer (1 Cor. 7 : 5). The other main point which 
asceticism has in view is that the heavenly state is superior to 
our earthly condition, and that in the life to come they 
neither marry nor are given in marriage (Luke 20 : 35). 
This no one can deny. Marriage is only an earthly relation. 
But as such it is an image of the highest love, a preparation 
for the future and eternal kingdom of God. 

It is true, however, that there are individuals, both male 
and female, but especially female, possessing a special gift 
of celibacy, whose desire for the kingdom of God so 
greatly preponderates over earthly desires, that earthly 
pleasure and affection are to them of slight importance. 
They feel exclusively the need of living in communion 
with God, in mystic intercourse, and in services of love 
for his kingdom, and anticipate in this sense the future 



3i8 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



state. It is just because they anticipate the heavenly life, 
that they are unable fully to live out the earthly life. They 
never experience the joys of married and family life, and 
the great treasures therein involved ; they never know its 
duties and its crosses, which together pertain to a complete 
earthly existence, destined to be absorbed in due time, in 
a heavenly one. A celibacy, too, which has to be main- 
tained by a continual struggle against inclination, and by 
repeated effort to stifle impure imagination, is far inferior 
to an ordinary marriage. Such a celibacy only justifies 
the saying, " It is not good that the man should be alone " 
(Gen. 2 : 18). 

All arbitrarily chosen celibacy is objectionable, and it is, 
moreover, an act contrary to duty to decline marriage for 
the sake of ease, or of maintaining a so-called indepen- 
dence. A celibacy determined on from duty and convic- 
tion must either have for its reason individual peculiarities, 
or special circumstances. In some circumstances also it 
may be a duty to choose celibacy for the kingdom of God's 
sake, because the special activity to which an individual 
may be called for the cause of Christ, e. g. that of a mis- 
sionary, would encounter in married or domestic life too 
great hindrances to its full development. Many are com- 
pelled to live a single life, not from their own choice, but 
because circumstances have necessitated it. For such it is 
a duty to submit with resignation to the privation imposed 
upon them. This applies to those whose affection has not 
been returned, or who, for any cause, have failed to find 
the individual to whom they would wish to unite their own 



THE FAMILY. 



life. Such celibacy, resulting from an absence of recipro- 
city, occurs more frequently in the female than in the male 
sex, because it is not the woman's part to seek the man, 
but to be sought by him. Another reason for compulsory 
celibacy is found in the fact, that owing to false standards 
of life and extravagant demands of society, many men 
are without the necessary means of supporting a family or 
maintaining a home, a circumstance whose result is that 
many women must remain unmarried. This sort of celi- 
bacy, arising from such false' views of life, which in our 
days have increased to an alarming extent, and induced 
immoralities of various kinds, is among the darker aspects 
of our present social condition. 



SECTION II. 

CONTRACTION OF MARRIAGE. 

Choice of a Partner. — To all men there comes a time 
which may be called the time of awakening love, — a desire 
for affection, a seeking, a presentiment, a dreamy hope, 
which at last takes the form of inclination for some one 
individual woman, and stirs up more or less consciously the 
whole soul. This propensity to love may often change its 
object, till at last the individual is found with whom is 
formed first the tie of betrothal, and afterwards that of mar- 
riage. 

To choose a partner for life is nothing less than to 
choose one's future, a future decidedly influencing not only 



3 2 ° 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



the external destiny, but also the development of charac- 
ter; therefore a future which one ought to be able to en- 
counter with full trust and confidence. When we consider 
the levity with which this step is taken by so many, we can 
but wonder that there are so few unhappy marriages. In 
this matter the main point to be considered is, whether 
there is agreement of disposition, whether the individuals 
are adapted to each other, whether they have such quali- 
ties as fit them to belong to each other and to live with 
each other for life, not only in the great events of life, 
but also in all those daily recurring details, in which the 
peculiarities of the natural dispositions are brought forth, 
in which not merely the excellencies of character, but also 
its faults and deficiencies are exposed. It is the greatest 
happiness to attain to a certainty, raised above all doubt, 
as to whether we have chosen rightly. To choose with 
doubtful feelings is, under all circumstances, not only dan- 
gerous and mischievous, but also sinful. True certain- 
ty can only arise from the enthusiasm of love, from the 
heart's inmost impulse, combined with enlightened and 
quiet reflection. There is a certainty which is slowly at- 
tained, as well as one which suddenly springs into existence. 

That marriage must not be entered upon without first 
seeking parental sanction may be inferred even from the 
commandment, that thou shalt "honor thy father and thy 
mother." We. do not mean to say that parents have an 
absolute right and power to forbid a marriage, much less to 
force one upon their children against their inclination. It 
may, however, be asserted that if a marriage contrary to 



THE FAMILY. 



321 



the will of parents is to be entered into with a good con- 
science, very serious moral reasons for it must exist, and 
all consideration demanded by the circumstances must be 
shown. 

Marriage of Inclination. — The contrast between a mar- 
riage of inclination and a marriage of reason seems recon- 
ciled in the true marriage, which is a union of the two. 
An inclination which does not include, though uncon- 
sciously, the element of reason, will soon prove to have 
been a delusion. What is called a marriage of reason is 
very often a marriage of convenience, or for the sake of 
money, or one contracted for the purpose of attaining a 
higher social position, rank and standing. All these are 
non-ethical, and while such a marriage may be called pru- 
dent, it is certainly not reasonable. On the other hand, • 
there is such a thing as a really reasonable marriage, which 
though differing indeed from one arising from affection, is 
still not really blamable, because duty is its motive. To 
mention a familiar example : a nobly-minded woman per- 
ceives it to be a duty, for the sake of filling the place of 
mother to the children of a deceased friend, to marry a 
widower who makes her the offer of his hand, although the 
feeling she has towards him is not love, but respect and 
confidence. No one would question the moral value of 
such a marriage. The normal marriage also requires that 
there should be no undue discrepancy of age between the 
parties, and that natural endowments and education should 
be of such a kind in both parties that a real reciprocity of 
giving and receiving may exist. 
22 



322 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



Church Solemnization of Marriage. — Marriage is by no 
means only the affair of the married couple themselves, 
but, by reason of its far-reaching importance to the whole 
human race, the affair of the State and of the Church. It 
therefore needs recognition and ratification on the part of 
the State and the Church. The State must establish the 
conditions under which it will acknowledge a marriage to 
be valid, and children to be legitimate, and must conse- 
quently require also that a marriage should be contracted 
by means of a formal act, to render it known and mani- 
fest, and by means of which its actual contraction may be 
authenticated, a matter often of great importance. The 
Church, moreover, must, for the sake of its members, take 
care that no hindrance to the validity of a marriage, e. g. 
forbidden degrees of kinship or certain kinds of divorce, 
should exist. And it is by no means to be taken for 
granted that the views of the Church and of the State 
coincide. 

By reason of the importance of marriage, not merely in 
a civil but also in a moral and religious point of view, the 
Church cannot but insist upon its being ratified by a re- 
ligious act, by the persons who enter such a contract seal- 
ing it as in the presence of God and the Church, listening 
to the commands and promises of God, accepting the in- 
tercessions of the congregation, and receiving the divine 
blessing on a Christian carrying out of the marriage vow. 
Hence no Christian would desire to avoid it, and arbitrari- 
ly to break with the ancient custom of the Church, an act 
which would imply that he was ashamed of avowing his 
proceeding before the Lord and his Church. 



THE FAMILY. 323 

But marriage has its civil as well as its ecclesiastical side ; 
and it must be regarded as a matter of great importance 
that Church and State should here harmoniously co-oper- 
ate. For this reason the ecclesiastical and civil elements, 
have, from remote ages, been so blended among Christian 
nations, that the Church's consecration has been the con- 
dition of the civil validity of marriage. 

Impediments to Marriage. — Among impediments to mar- 
riage we would especially mention those arising from natu- 
ral relationship, — the forbidden degrees. The general no- 
tion underlying this prohibition is, that they who are uni- 
ted by ties of blood already stand to each other in a rela- 
tion of reverence, dutifulness, and affection, which would 
be abolished by the matrimonial relation ; and that such 
marriages are an impure and unnatural mingling, a remo- 
val of boundaries placed by the Creator himself. When 
it is said that the man is to leave his father and mother 
(Gen 2 : 24), this does not only forbid the marriage tie 
between parents and children, but involves also the more 
comprehensive thought, that the man is not to seek a wife 
in his father's house, in his own family, but in another 
house and another family. It must surely be confessed that 
there is at present too great laxity in this respect, and that 
the laws of the State need revision in a stricter direction, 
even if we should feel some hesitation at carrying out the 
prohibition to its extreme consequences. Dispensations 
are justifiable with respect to the more remote degrees of 
kinship, and cannot be entirely avoided. 

With the ethical point of view is combined also a physi- 



3 2 4 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



cal one. For experience, corroborated by numerous ex- 
amples, shows that when intermarriages are continued in 
the same family, without the introduction of fresh elements, 
the type of the family loses both in physical and intellec- 
tual power and energy. 



SECTION III. 

MARRIED LIFE. 

Duties of Husband and Wife. — The husband and wife 
are not to look at marriage from the standpoint of fortune, 
happiness, or enjoyment, but to regard it as a vocation, 
whose sacred duties they have to fulfil. The husband is, 
according to God's ordinance, to be the head of the wife 
(Genesis 3: 16; Eph. 5: 23; 1 Cor. n: 3), and also 
of the whole family, for which he has to provide ; while at 
the same time he is to occupy his position in the civil com- 
munity, in which he finds his sphere of action, The wife, 
on the other hand, is to be the ruling centre of the house- 
hold, and though, by entering upon the marriage state, she 
is by no means obliged to separate herself from all other 
social or friendly intercourse, and is not thereby at all ex- 
cluded from other interests, still the proper sphere of op- 
eration prescribed to her by nature itself is in her home. 
It is she who must make her husband's and children's home 
comfortable. When then we desire in a woman frugality, 
economy, method and neatness, such qualities are not to be 
despised as insignificant, mean, and prosaic, but are, on 
the contrary, the indispensable conditions of that poetry 



V 



THE FAMILY. 



325 



of life which ought to flourish on the domestic hearth. 
The wise King of Israel did not despise them in his de- 
scription of the woman whose price is far above rubies 
(Prov. 31 : 10-31). And when we say with Scripture, 
that the man is the head of the woman, and esteem it the 
woman's vocation to serve, though this may indeed be in 
conflict with modern theories of the emancipation of wo- 
man, it certainly means anything but that the husband is 
to be a despot, and the wife a slave. On the contrary, the 
contrast between the man and the woman is to be harmon- 
ized in the union and reciprocity of love. And it is just 
because she serves, because in her service of love she cares 
for husband and children, for the whole circle of those to 
whom her heart is bound, that she practically exercises au- 
thority, by impressing upon the whole life of the household 
the stamp of her own peculiarity. The right must also be 
conceded to her of executing this her domestic vocation in 
her own way, and according to her peculiar taste. 

Married Love Must Increase. — In many cases growth in 
love is checked, because the married couple, too secure 
in possession, neglect to be ever acquiring fresh mutual 
love and esteem. Their affection fades into indifference 
and merely external habit. This growth may also be im- 
peded and choked when love is too selfish, when those 
who love desire to belong to each other after a fashion al- 
together too partial and exclusive. This perverted desire 
for sole possession develops often into the passion of jeal- 
ousy. When love is in a healthy state, married people 
have confidence in "each other, mutually believe in each 



326 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS, 



other's faithfulness, and know that love can only flourish 
and increase in that element of freedom which finds its 
natural boundary in the fidelity of one heart towards an- 
other. 

That love may abound married people must share every- 
thing with each other. But this is impossible so long as 
they are not in a condition to share also each other's in- 
terests. The husband must understand how to enter into 
the interests of the housekeeper, and thereby to educate 
not only his sense for details, but especially for the partic- 
ular. And the wife must be in a condition to share the 
interests of her husband, and rejoice in and appreciate his 
pursuits. In many cases she may do good service to her 
husband, as his support and assistant in his business ; and 
it may often be of importance to a man to listen to the ad- 
vice of a sensible wife, whose more direct feeling and 
sound views may hit upon the right course with greater 
certainty than more intricate reasoning could. Generally 
speaking there is not one of the interests that stir and en- 
gross a man, which has not an aspect into which a woman 
can enter, while, with respect to art and poetry, she is 
able to appropriate them entirely. 

It is in this harmonious intercourse, and in constantly 
progressive growth of love, that the happiness of married 
life consists. Certain external conditions are indeed re- 
quisite to this happiness ; but riches and superfluity are by 
no means to be reckoned among them. These considered 
in themselves are but an ambiguous happiness, and, espe- 
cially at the beginning of married life, bring with them 



THE FAMILY. 



327 



temptations, in which, unless they are earnestly resisted 
and overcome, the growth and prosperity of love are sup- 
pressed. In married life, though men and women think 
just the opposite, it must be regarded as a fortunate circum- 
stance, and one likely to promote affection, for a husband 
and wife to start with but a limited capital, and to rear the 
edifice of their home and family by their own labor and 
economy, and to be able themselves to fashion a habitation 
and external surroundings for their love, exactly corres- 
ponding to its peculiarity. The allotments of human hap- 
piness are distributed in various forms, and riches may cer- 
tainly be a blessing ; but they to whom it is appointed to 
begin their married life in riches and abundance, and who 
therefore miss the pleasure of building up their own home, 
must find their compensation for this deficiency by trying 
to prepare their joy and happiness in other respects. 

The Trials of Married Life. — No marriage is pure har- 
mony and happiness. The experience is soon made, that 
this paradise is at the same time a school replete with seri- 
ous discipline and trial. The deep seriousness involved in 
marriage is also soon brought to light by this or that un- 
expected dispensation, by reverses, disappointments, cares 
for sustenance, loss of property, sickness, and bereavements. 
Again the seriousness of marriage is every day shown by 
the work which married people have with themselves and 
their own souls, by the conflict with sin, without which 
the growth of love already spoken of can by no means 
take place. In married life the former illusions of love 
cease, the qualities which each attributed to the other, 



328 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



when they saw each other in a beautifying light, disappear ; 
and, on the other hand, many unsuspected faults, peculiar- 
ities, and deficiencies appear. Everything depends espe- 
cially on resisting whatever militates against fidelity, as 
soon as it is perceived. Under this head we include also 
every temptation to mutual indifference, lukewarmness, 
and reserve. It is the duty of each to strive against those 
faults in particular which give the most offence to the other, 
and render him unamiable in the eyes of one united to 
him in the bonds of affection. It is incumbent on both to 
bear each other's burdens, and this especially includes a 
patient bearing of each other's faults and weaknesses, a 
willingness to forgive them, and a readiness to lend all 
kindly help towards forsaking them. And no small por- 
tion of the burdens to be thus patiently borne consists of 
those occasioned by the individual temperament. In this 
respect a diversity of temperament is desirable in married 
people, for they will then be better able to help each other, 
than if they both had the same temperament, for example, 
if both were naturally inclined to melancholy or impetu- 
osity. Among the things which often trouble married life 
must also be reckoned the ill humors and dissensions which 
may be caused by trifles. Unimportant differences, little 
qaarrels, disputes about trifles, may result in great disturb- 
ances. 

The true superiority to such temptations, the true power 
for bearing both the less and the greater trials of life, and 
at the same time strengthening the love which is pleasing 
both to God and man, is to be found in Christian faith. 



THE FAMILY. 



3 2 9 



That work by which each seeks mutually to educate and 
help the other, must in its deepest reason be a work for 
mutual sanctification, for attaining through and with each 
other maturity for the kingdom of God. Christian faith 
teaches married people to regard each other not as beings 
destined for this earthly life alone, but as beings destined 
one day to rise from the dead, as fellow heirs of the grace 
of life (i Pet. 3 : 7). It imposes upon them a mutual re- 
sponsibility for each other's souls, utterly unknown apart 
from Christianity. Amidst the silent growth of faith and 
holiness marriage must approach that ideal which the apos- 
tle holds up, when he perceives in the intercourse of man 
and wife a type of the intercourse between Christ and the 
Church, — an ideal so great and exalted, that we can only 
but gradually approach it amidst imperfections and weak- 
nesses. 

This Christian and religious character of marriage can- 
not be complete from the beginning. It would be an ex- 
aggeration to require its full, perfect impression, at the be- 
ginning of the married life. Young married people can- 
not face one another in full Christian maturity ; and it is 
only by means of actually living together, and of common 
endurance of actual trials, that either the religious or the 
ethical maturity of marriage can be attained. 

Mixed Marriages. — It is just because in the normal de- 
velopment of marriage the religious element is also devel- 
oped as its fundamental support and blessing, that mixed 
marriages, or marriages between individuals of different 
Christian confessions present such doubtful e'ements. A 



33° CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 

marriage should never be formed with an unbeliever, espe- 
cially when he belongs to a non-Christian religion. For a 
marriage which excludes at the outset all fellowship in the 
innermost sanctuary of the soul, cannot be a right one. 
Marriages between Jews and Christians are, from a relig- 
ious point of view, to be avoided, for to the Jew not only 
the cross of Christ, but also the acknowledgment of the 
Triune God, is an offence. Speaking generally, too, mar- 
riages between Protestants and Roman Catholics are unad- 
visable. For such married people cannot participate to- 
gether in what is highest and holiest, they cannot celebrate 
the Lord's Supper together. Great difficulties will also 
« arise with respect to the education of children. 

It is in our days unfortunately a frequent occurrence 
for believing wives to have unbelieving husbands. Pas- 
sionate attempts at conversion will in such cases be of lit- 
tle avail. It were best if there were positive signs of a true 
conversion before marriage. But the words of the Apostle 
Peter must also be remembered (i Pet. 3 : 1, 2) concern- 
ing women, by whose holy behaviour unbelieving husbands 
"who obey not the Word " may be gained " without the 
Word." The quiet testimony borne in lowliness, patience, 
and gentleness to the truth, and the power of faith, the 
silent confession of the Lord in doing and suffering, will 
produce their effect, and smooth the way for the Word 
when the acceptable time is come. This applies also to 
the believing husband, who has the misfortune of being 
married to an unbelieving wife. 



THE FAMILY. 



33 1 



SECTION IV. 

DISSOLUTION OF MARRIAGE. 

Second Marriage. — Marriage is not a communion which 
by its peculiar and exclusive character binds two individ- 
uals together for this life and the life to come. On the 
contrary, the peculiarity of the state of wedlock is that of 
a relation limited to this world (Rom. 7 : 2, 3 ; 1 Cor. 7 : • 
39; Matt. 22: 30). Though marriage is dissolved by 
death, there are marriages which have been carried out 
with such genuine feeling and mutual devotion, that a 
second marriage could scarcely take place, for the surviv- 
ing partner will live in the spiritual communion of memo- 
ry with the departed. But it is just because marriage is ap- 
pointed only for this earthly existence, that to enter upon 
a second marriage appears always allowable, and in some 
cases and circumstances advisable. Thus the Apostle ad- 
vises the younger widows to marry again, and that for rea- 
sons which are stated (1 Cor. 7 : 8, 9 ; 1 Tim. 5 : 11-15). 
Nor can we find in those passages where the apostle re- 
quires of a bishop, and a deacon, or a woman taking an 
official position in the Church, " to be the husband of one 
wife," " the wife of one man " (1 Tim. 3 : 2, 12 ; 5:9; 
Tit. 1 : 6), any disapprobation of re-marriage in the case 
of such persons. We know indeed that in the earlier ages 
of the Church, second marriage was not regarded with fa- 
vor, a judgment which to this very day is the prevailing 
one in the Roman Catholic Church, and most recent expo- 
sitors of the Pastoral Epistles take the expressions already 



332 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



quoted as referring to a second marriage after the death of 
the first wife, — that it was a general principle that those who 
held office in the Church should not marry a second time. 
But we ought not to forget that the opposition to second 
marriages did not appear among the Christians until in the 
post-apostolic age, when asceticism was already taking a 
non-Pauline direction, and was therefore inclined to give 
its own interpretation to the Apostle's words. It is prob- 
ably best to regard these passages as referring to fidelity to 
the marriage vow, in opposition to every violation of it, 
whether in actual bigamy, or in adultery, or in arbitrary 
divorce and re-marriage ; in all which cases a person is no 
longer " a husband of one wife," or "a wife of one hus- 
band." 

Divorce. — Besides the separation which marriage sus- 
tains by death, there is another separation whose reason is 
found in sin, when a married couple are divorced. When 
both parties are Christians, no such thing as divorce can 
take place, for such a separation cannot take place other- 
wise than by a violation of the divine ordinance. Un- 
happy marriages always point back to a fault, often to an 
inconsiderate frivolous entrance upon marriage, which is 
now its own revenge. And as a rule they point back to 
neglects during married life, neglect in striving against 
the first beginning of discord. And there are many who 
just as frivolously proceed to divorce as they had before 
frivolously entered upon matrimony. 

One offence alone is mentioned in Scripture (Matt. 5 : 
32 ; 19 : 9 j Luke 16 : 18) as a ground for a moral right 



THE FAMILY. 



333 



to dissolve an existing marriage, and that is the sin of 
adultery. The Apostle Paul adds another case, namely, 
that of malicious .desertion (i Cor. 7 : 15), but we have 
no. right to infer that Paul would allow the forsaken one to 
marry again ( 1 Cor. 7: 11). The Roman Church main- 
tains the indissolubility of marriage, and although she per- 
mits a nominal divorce, still does not allow the contrac- 
tion of a second marriage, because after all she does not 
regard the marriage tie as dissolved. The Lutheran Church 
decrees the lawfulness of an actual divorce, and allows the 
innoce?it party to re-marry. The Lutheran divines in ad- 
dition to the two scriptural reasons for divorce (adultery, 
and malicious desertion) also include as another reason, 
continued cruelty and personal ill-usage. But both mali- 
cious desertion and continued cruelty must be clearly 
proved, and shown to be obdurate. "Incompatibility of 
temper," or difference of religious opinions, affords no 
ground for dissolving a marriage that has already taken 
place, though it may be a strong reason to prevent a Chris- 
tian from forming such a marriage. That disease, even 
mental disease, does not sever the marriage tie, results 
from the facts, that it is, on the contrary, a summons to 
increased conjugal fidelity and support, and that it can 
never be absolutely certain that recovery is impossible. In 
general, remarriage after divorce is unadvisable even to 
the innocent party. 

That the manner in which the matter of divorce is to 
this very day treated in all Protestant countries needs re- 
form, must be acknowledged by all who look upon mar- 



334 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



riage as a serious thing. It is such lax marriage legislation 
which must take its share of the blame in many unhappy 
marriages, because it has to a certain degree exempted hus- 
band and wife from the duty of self-denial and self-con- 
trol, and opened the barriers to caprice of all kinds. 
Only where a real moral necessity exists should divorce be 
permitted. Hence the question is not only to make the 
laws themselves stricter, but also the administration of 
these laws ; for.it is on this that so much depends, and for 
this that a more profound moral discernment is in so many 
instances required. Especial stress ought to be laid on 
the principle, that the guilty parties be not allowed to con- 
tract a fresh marriage. 



SECTION V. 

THE EMANCIPATION OF WOMAN. . 

The Modern Doctrine of Emancipation. — It is in these 
days, when divorces are of constantly increasing occur- 
rence, that the new doctrine of emancipation of woman 
is also proclaimed. It appears partly as the antinomian 
doctrine of "free love," which would make marriage an 
obsolete institution, and base it only upon the free inclina- 
tion of the heart, and partly as the equally antinomian 
doctrine which insists on the elevation of woman from her 
former subordination to perfect equality with man. These 
two tendencies may be called (esthetic and the political ten- 
dencies of emancipation. 



THE FAMILY. 



335 



Christianity has indeed emancipated woman to an equal- 
ity with man, by regarding her as a creature made in God's 
; image, calling her to the grace of eternal life, making her 
a partaker of the same Word of God, the same baptism, 
the same Lord's Supper as the man. But in this relation 
of equality, which unites man and woman in the closest 
and most loving association, Christianity maintains that 
mutual relation of superiority and subordination which is 
founded on the creation of the race. For the man is the 
head of the woman, even as Christ is the head of the 
Church, and as the Church is subject to Christ, so let wives 
be subject to their own husbands in everything (Eph. 5 : 
23, 24; 1 Pet. 3 : 1, 2). It is this portion of duty, and 
this relation of subordination, which the new doctrine by 
all means opposes. 

It is not necessary here to speak of the unscriptural and 
ungodly aesthetic tendency of what is known as the "free 
love" doctrine, but where the political tendency presents 
itself, it is declared that the vocation of mother and of 
overseer of the family is one far too limited for a woman ; 
that she is called by nature to the same public activity as 
man ; it is even added that Christianity was unable in this 
respect to free itself from Eastern prejudices. Hence new 
laws are desired, laws not only concerning property and 
inheritance, but laws to place women in all respects upon 
an equality with men. 

The Vocation of Women. — When the reasons usually 
brought forward for the supposed right of woman to per- 
fect equality with man are more closely considered, they 



S3 6 CHRIS TIAN ETHICS, 

are found to rest upon a view of the constitution, vocation, 
and natural talents of woman which is utterly at variance 
with reality. It is a thoroughly perverted tendency which 
would bring her out of her home and family into public 
life, in which the more she devotes herself thereto, — though 
only by means of her imagination, — the more she will 
necessarily miss her vocation. Woman possesses capacities 
and gifts not granted to man, and with respect to which 
man is not and cannot be her equal. But her capabilities 
are pre-eminently of a spiritual character, and it is just 
this which fits woman to be the helpmate, comforter, moth- 
er, sister, and friend of man, and herein lies the excel- 
lence of her gifts and her glory. Her capacities and tal- 
ents are not fitted for public life. Womanliness is refine- 
ment, modesty, a wise reserve with respect to surroundings, 
and a fear to overstep the boundaries prescribed by nature. 
In saying this, we would by no means have women exclu- 
ded from a share in scientific and aesthetic culture. Gen- 
erally speaking, the boundaries between the male and fe- 
male nature are not drawn with a line, nor in an exclusive 
manner, as though the one could possess nothing that be- 
longs also to the other. But all culture, artistic, scientific, 
and literary, ought to be subordinated to her chief voca- 
tion, which directs her to her home and family. Of the 
professions especially adapted for women we may name 
the medical, in that they can afford the greatest assistance 
to persons of their own sex. With regard to such work as 
women are just as capable of doing as men, the right of 
engaging therein ought to be granted them. But even 



THE FAMIL Y. 



337 



such female man's work seems to us undesirable. It has in 
it an element alien to the feminine nature. It is done, 
however, for the sake of maintenance, which is always 
honorable, and finds its justification in the necessities of the 
times, that is to say, partly in the circumstance that there 
are in . our days so many unmarried women, and partly in 
the fact that many marriages are contracted in 'which the 
labor of the husband does not suffice for the maintenance 
of the family. 

The Ideal Sphere of Woman. — The woman who in Chris- 
tian marriage places herself under God's ordinance, is by 
no means excluded from all influence upon public life. 
She exercises a real influence in Church and State, in liter- 
ature and art. But it is an indirect, not a direct influence. 
She is the helper of the man, and she stands at his side, 
and on his level, and can and does, in many respects and 
in various ways, assist him. The influence of women upon 
public opinion, both in a good and bad sense, has often 
proved itself far-reaching and important. And she has 
one special means of operating upon public life, a means 
of operation which man does not exercise, a power among 
the greatest in human society. For is not the whole future 
generation, in the first stage of its development, entirely 
in the hands of woman ? As a mother she exercises the 
greatest influence upon the future of public life. And it 
is just because women exercise so great an influence upon 
the rising generation, that the religious and national ele- 
ment should form the groundwork of her education, in the 
bringing up of her children. 
23 



33§ 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



SECTION VI. 

FAMILY LIFE AND FAMILY AFFECTION. 

Family Affection. — By family affection we understand 
not only the mutual affection of parents and children, of 
brothers and sisters for each other, but also the common 
affection of the members of a family for their home, with 
all its features of intimacy and comfort, for their home 
customs and all the distinctive peculiarities which belong 
to a particular family. But genuine family affection can 
only obtain a form by means of a due proportion between 
authority and dutifulness. Where there is no authority, no 
will to govern the whole, no appointed order in the house, 
when each member of a family does what he pleases, or 
where false notions of equality have entered, where chil- 
dren and servants are emancipating themselves and plac- 
ing themselves on an equal footing with parents and mas- 
ters, — there family life is, in fact, destroyed. The oppo- 
site extreme is when the authority of the father or mother 
rules in such a manner that a spirit of fear is diffused, 
weighing down the family by its pressure, and making its 
order a constraint. The normal state of affairs prevails 
where authority rules in indissoluble union with affection 
and love, where obedience to the will of parents or mas- 
ters is one with dutifulness and devotion. But the gfreat 
drawback to the full development of family life at the 
present age is, that so many fathers are so entirely ab- 
sorbed in public life and business pursuits, and in trying 
to provide for the daily necessities of life, that their fam- 
ilies are but too often neglected. 



THE FAMILY. 



339 



But family affection must be above all things subordi- 
nate to the kingdom of God, which is the ultimate and 
highest aim of human life, and the family must become the 
chief means of promoting its diffusion and spiritual su- 
premacy. 

Parents and Children. — It is the duty of parents to ed- 
ucate their children, and as the new-born child comes into 
the world not only as a member of a family, but also as a 
future member of the State and of the Church, its educa- 
tion must, within certain limits, be subjected to oversight 
on the part of both the State and the Church, and neither 
may nor must this be left in all respects to the mere will of 
the parents. Children are not the serfs of parents. 

Christian education must proceed on the foundation of 
Christian baptism, and its sole duty is to perform the will 
of Christ with respect to the child, to lead it to lay hold 
on eternal life, to which it is called in baptism. This, 
however,, by no means excludes, but rather includes, that 
the child shall be also educated for life, in its true sense, 
in this temporal state. Christian education specially aims 
at educating the will of the child, at laying a foundation 
for character, and this is an aim diametrically opposed to 
the views of many parents, who regard the development 
of their children's intellectual powers, or that of their 
talents, as the main concern. Children must be educated 
to reverence and obedience ; to filial piety and love, to 
faith in their God and Saviour, and to this task must the 
cultivation of their physical and intellectual endowments 
be subordinated. 



34© 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



Special Religious Training of Children. — The apostle 
commands that children should be nurtured in the chasten- 
ing and admonition of the Lord (Eph. 6 : 4), but com- 
bines with this precept a warning " not to provoke chil- 
dren to wrath." Without discipline there can be no ed- 
ucation, the self-will must be broken, and a will for what 
is good, is to be cultivated. One chief means is the early 
cultivation of habits of diligence and order, of punctual- 
ity and regularity in the whole mode of life. Punishment 
cannot be omitted, but it must be love which punishes ; 
and all temper, caprice and injustice must be avoided, lest 
children be irritated and exasperated. The higher aim of 
all discipline and punishment must be that a spirit, not of 
fear, but of genuine dutifulness and love, should prevail, 
—that what is right should be done for the pleasure felt in 
doing right, and that abhorrence of evil, and especially 
abhorrence of all falsehood, and of all impurity or defile- 
ment, should become natural. Not only should obedience 
to parents be inculcated, but also reverence for all that is 
worthy of honor, so far as it comes within the circle of 
consciousness. 

The education of a child to faith is as far as the first 
stage of life is concerned, the task of the mother. Jt is 
the mother who must teach her child to pray, and lead it 
to the Saviour, must tell it the first elements of that 
gospel history which is so attractive to the mind of a child. 
At a subsequent stage, instruction, whether imparted at 
home or at school, must assume a more didactic character. 
Still, as a rule, care must be taken not to preach too much, 



THE FAMILY. 



34i 



nor talk too much about Christianity, to children. Far 
more effective than this much speaking is it for chil- 
dren to see the power of faith in their father and moth- 
er, to see the gospel exemplified in the daily life of their 
homes. It is very desirable that the young should be ac- 
customed to regular attendance at the house of God, if 
only care is taken that no hated constraint is used. 

We plant and water, but it is God that giveth the in- 
crease (1 Cor. 3 : 7), is a saying which finds a true appli- 
cation in the matter of education. Experience shows that 
we must not expect too much from education, since chil- 
dren of the same parents, and sharers of the same advan- 
tages, often turn out so differently, an experience made al- 
ready by the first human pair in the case of Cain and Abel. 
One of the children may turn out well, and be religious, 
while the other turns out ill and is wicked. It is the 
sacred duty of parents to do what is in their power, as 
those who are responsible and will have to give account in 
this respect. The great difficulty is, that in education all 
does not depend upon teaching and instruction, though 
these form part of it, but upon the kind of life exhibited 
by parents, upon that power of personality which they may 
be able to exercise upon their children. 

Education is designed to lead children to maturity ; but 
when this maturity is attained, when children themselves 
begin to lay the foundations of new families, the relation 
of obedience in which they stand to their parents ceases. 
But if the relation of obedience ceases, that of filial piety 
never ceases, but lasts through the whcle life. This age 



342 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



makes manifest two extremes in the relation between parents 
and grown-up children, the one of irreverence and ingrat- 
itude towards aged parents, on the part of grown-up chil- 
dren who have homes of their own ; the other, where pa- 
rents wish to stretch their authority beyond due bounds. 
There are mothers who will by no means let their children 
be free from their control, although they have attained the 
age of majority, and have families of their own. There 
are also mothers-in-law who treat their daughters-in-law as 
though still in their minority, by their constant remon- 
strances and criticism. 

Masters and Servants. — To the family in its wider sense 
belong the domestics or servants, who must be treated as 
members of the household, and share in the weal or woe 
of the family. Such at least is the ideal view, but a false 
individualism has in this respect diffused its pernicious ef- 
fects. It is indeed esteemed as one of the advantages of 
the day, that domestic servants enjoy full individual liberty, 
but this individual liberty is combined with the dissolution 
of many ties which otherwise bind men together in salutary 
mutual dependence. 

Domestic servants in our days are not only full of ab- 
surd notions of liberty but also of as absurd claims of 
equality. On the other hand, this individual feeling for 
liberty, and its selfish interest, is also manifested by mas- 
ters. The domestics are excluded from the family, and 
instead of an inward and moral relation between authority 
and dutifulness, one of merely external contract is intro- 
duced between masters and servants, a relation which can 



THE FAMILY. 



343 



be abolished after a short period, and which in many in- 
stances lasts but a few days or weeks. The power of money 
has taken the place of the moral forces, and a servant, not 
feeling in the least degree constrained by either affection 
or devotion, will be easily induced by the prospect of high- 
er wages to change masters even after a very short period. 
The whole relation turns upon work and wages, and is en- 
tirely a non-personal one. This applies also to the posi- 
tion occupied by many masters, who come to terms with 
their domestics chiefly by means of wages, apart from any 
personal interest. For servants regard not their board 
and lodging and a home, but just the wages as the chief 
matter. But notwithstanding all their liberty, the condi- 
tion of domestics is not an enviable one. 

There are exceptions to this general statement of the re- 
lation of masters and servants, but still such is the direc- 
tion in which the current sets in our days. It is a moral de- 
mand of the times, to give serious attention to whatever 
may serve to draw domestic servants into closer connec- 
tion with the family, and to restore, in place of the merely 
legal and pecuniary relation now existing, a moral relation 
of mutual fidelity and trustful devotion. It would be well 
if both servants and masters would obey the exhortation of 
St. Paul (Eph. 6 : 5-9), and let the spirit of Christ rule in 
the house. Where this spirit prevails, servants will be con- 
tented with their position, and glory in fulfilling with all 
fidelity the vocation to which they are called, and masters 
will lay to heart the physical as well as the spiritual well-be- 
ing of their servants, and provide that the old age of faith- 



344 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



ful servants, after the service of many years, be free from 
anxiety. 

Hospitality. — In its widest significance, hospitality is a 
form of sympathetic relation to other men, by which we 
open to them our house, our family circle, and let out- 
siders share the advantages of our own family life. Guests 
are not members of the family, but are, as visitors, admit- 
ted to the enjoyment of all the house affords. In ancient 
and mediaeval times this virtue was practiced to a wider ex- 
tent than at present, because culture and civilization had 
not yet called into existence the many public houses of en- 
tertainment, where a stranger might find shelter and re- 
freshment for money. And, however past and present cir- 
cumstances may differ, hospitality, both in its broader and 
narrower meaning, may and should be continually exer- 
cised, partly by entertaining worthy strangers (Rom. 12 : 
13), partly by affording access to our domestic circle to 
the stranger who has inspired us with confidence ; now by 
collecting about us those who are deprived of the advan- 
tages of family life, now by uniting friends, who have fam- 
ilies of their own, in social gatherings. It is by such 
means that the virtue of hospitality, which may become 
one of reciprocity on the part of different families, is cul- 
tivated. 

Friendship. — Friendship is a union between individuals 
for mutual help and strength, a union not founded on re- 
spect alone, but chiefly on sympathy. It is not, however, 
limited, like the love of the husband for the wife, to a sin- 
gle individual. A man may fitly have several friends. But 



THE FAMILY. 



345 



genuine friendship is always a mutual personal apprecia- 
tion, a mutual relation of trust and faithfulness, in which 
one depends upon another, and is fully certain of his de- 
votion and attachment of his interest and readiness to af- 
ford personal assistance. Though it is possible to have 
more than one friend, one cannot, even though we have 
many acquaintances, and are on friendly terms with them, 
have many friends. 

Even in friendship itself there are different degrees. A 
genuine friendship, ruling the whole personality, is by no 
means an ordinary one. As a rule, lasting friendships are 
formed in youth, in the period of transition from family 
to public life. In more mature age the forming of new 
friendships has its difficulties, for we live in the midst of 
our families, and are engrossed in the duties which tfre 
realities of life have called forth. That which is true of male 
is equally true of female friendships. As a rule, a woman 
makes friends in her early years, before she becomes a wife 
and a mother. If she can still retain them after her mar- 
riage, her lot may be regarded as a favored one. 

Fidelity must be maintained, if friendship is to be main- 
tained. Innumerable examples in the history of the 
Church show, that the Spirit of Christ, by no means de- 
signed to banish the relation of friendship from our earthly 
life, but rather to purify and glorify it. Jesus himself had 
his inner circle of friends and disciples. In the Old Tes- 
tament dispensation, the friendship of David and Jona- 
than is proverbial. The friendship of Luther and Me- 
lanchthon is also universally known. 



346 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



Social Intercourse. — Though friendship, as being a pure- 
ly personal relation, may be developed independently of 
family life, it yet combines in an unconstrained and natu- 
ral manner with hospitality; friends are accustomed to 
meet in social intercourse. What is sought in society is 
mental refreshment and recreation by means of mutual 
communication and conversation. As this pleasure is an 
essential purpose of conversation, the nature of this con- 
versation will assume a special character, differing in dif- 
ferent circles. 

Every member of the social circle should contribute to 
the animation and ennoblement of conversation. To re- 
main silent in society is a neglect of social duty, while on 
the other hand, it is a transgression of social duty, no less 
offensive, for any one to monopolize the conversation. 
Among all nations we find social gatherings combined with 
the pleasures of the table. A common meal serves as a 
symbolical mark of mutual communion. The Apostle lays 
down the rule of all such intercourse, when he says, 
"Whether ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to 
the glory of God " (i Cor. 10 : 31). This does not 
mean simply, with thanks to God for his gifts, but also that 
the gifts are used according to his will, and therefore that 
the bodily is subordinated to the spiritual. When food 
and drink are made the main object, the right point of 
view for social intercourse is lost sight of. 



CHAPTER II. 

THE STATE. 



SECTION I. 

THE STATE AND JUSTICE. 

The State is the Kingdom of External Justice. — While 
the family shows us a kingdom of love and dutifulness, the 
State, on the contrary, exhibits a kingdom of right and 
justice, where the individual sympathies which prevail in 
the family retire, and individuals only count as persons 
whose freedom stands in prescribed relation to the general 
law of the State. Right is the rule imposed by law upon the 
human will. Justice is the regulating and dispensing power 
which maintains and defends its enforcement in presence 
of human arbitrariness. Hence it is not only legislative, 
but also judicial and retributive. But the State is only the 
kingdom of external justice. Its commands are not di- 
rectly moral. It says not only, you ought, but, you must ; 
and is able to effect the fulfilment of its decrees by force. 

The State is not a human invention, but a divine ordi- 
nance, " for there is no power but of God ; and the powers 
that be are ordained of God. Therefore he that resisteth 
the power, withstandeth the ordinance of God ' ' (Rom. 
13 : 1, 2). This does not, however, exclude the fact that 

(347) 



348 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



it is also a human ordinance j 1 for its administration and ex- 
ecution have, by means of a long historical development, 
been entrusted to the hands of sinful men. The State 
further proves itself a human ordinance by the fact that it 
is not, like the Christian Church, of divine institution. 

In investigating the origin of the State, we encounter 
both the monarchical and the republican principle. The 
monarchical is, however, the primitive and the most an- 
cient ; the republican appearing in history as the contrast 
of the earlier form. 

Although the State cannot be directly referred to divine 
institution, it is yet in its inmost nature a divine ordinance. 
It is founded upon an inward necessity. And the State 
being a divine ordinance, its origin as well as its continu- 
ance rests, in spite of human sinfulness, upon divine prov- 
idence. For a multitude of very various forces and cir- 
cumstances, not depending upon the will of man alone, 
must co-operate, if a State is to be formed and to endure 
for ages. 

The Duty of the State. — The State, as an ordinance of 
God upon earth, reminds us chiefly of the sin, arbitrari- 
ness, violence and crime, against which it is designed to 
provide a protective barrier and a restraint. The older 
theologians have rightly found in Gen. 9: 6, ("Whoso 
sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed : for 
in the image of God made he man"), if not the institu- 

1 " Be subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake ; wheth- 
er it be to the king, as supreme ; or unto governors, as sent by him for 
vengeance o?i evil-doers and for praise to them that do well " (I Pet. 
2 : 13, 14.) 



THE STATE. 



349 



tion of the State, yet still the appointment of a magistra- 
cy. For if God bestows on man a power over life and 
death, he undoubtedly bestows on him at the same time 
power over that which is less, and it is his will that human 
affairs should be subjected to the power of certain personal 
organs authorized to punish the guilty. 

The duty of the State is not confined to prevention. and 
punishment, but includes also that arranging and distribut- 
ing justice which carries out impartially what is right in 
every relation of civil society. The State comprehends 
the entire life of the nation, and not only takes under its 
protection the rights of the individual, but guards also the 
rights of the community and its common employments, 
and consequently the circles and institutions interwoven 
with them. It should furnish those external conditions by 
which the family, trade, art, science, nay even the Church 
itself, may attain their own development, and co-operate 
in the task of the whole. 

The State, as the region of external justice upon earth, 
has by this very character both an ethic and a physical 
side. Its physical side is power. A State without power 
is a nonentity ; and States have from all times exhibited a 
tendency to increase their power. But the State only ap- 
proximates to its ideal in proportion as the use of its power 
is determined by justice and law, and it is upon these that 
all real authority in the State depends. External presup- 
poses internal justice, and external acts, so far as they do 
not proceed from an inward disposition, are devoid of 
an animating principle. Every relation between a govern- 



35° 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



ment and its subjects must be founded upon mutual confi- 
dence and loyalty, and compulsory enactments at variance 
with the prevailing opinions of the majority will never 
take root. 

Nationality. — The State presupposes a nation and a 
country, and in union with the nation and the country 
forms a realm in the political meaning of the word. A 
nation is an individual social organism defined by nature, 
a joint body, which again is an individual member of the 
great body of the human race, and exhibits human nature 
on a small scale. A perfect national life cannot be led 
while a people is in a nomadic state, as in the times of the 
migration of the nations. 

National peculiarities are shown not only in the physi- 
ognomy of a people, — as in the case of the Jews,— but es- 
pecially in their language and customs. As nationality is 
the natural basis of the State, so is it also the condition of 
all human, all moral, and intellectual development. 

But great as is the importance which we attribute to na- 
tionality, an individual nation cannot be sufficient to itself, 
and can only attain its destined development in co-opera- 
tion with other races. Trade and navigation, the art of 
printing, and the discoveries of science, have powerfully 
contributed to promote international intercourse both in 
physical and intellectual respects. This in its turn has 
caused the different nations to learn each other's languages, 
and thereby to be capable of mutually transposing them- 
selves into each other's peculiarity, and has also led to the 
cultivation of international relations. 



THE STATE. 



351 



Relation of Christianity to Nationality.— At the first 
glance it might appear as though Christianity denied in- 
stead of acquiesced in national feelings and decisions. 
For Christianity insists rather on the universal than the 
national, abolishes the separation between Jews and Samar- 
itans, Jews and Gentiles, Greeks and Barbarians, and seeks 
in all the inner, the immortal man, whose vocation is in 
that kingdom which is not of this world. But from Acts 
17 : 26, 27 we learn that nationalities also as such are to 
act their part in the economy of the kingdom of God. 
The nation is to cultivate, under the fertilizing influences 
of the Spirit of Christ, the gifts God has bestowed upon 
it, and to submit itself to the guidance and purification of 
the Spirit. Hence the relation of Christianity to nation- 
ality is not only a purifying, but a cultivating and a per- 
fecting one. 

It is the task of every nation which has placed itself un- 
der the educational influence of Christianity, to know its 
own peculiarity and its own particular mission, and to seek 
to carry on this distinctive work assigned it by God. 
Hence it is one special duty of those who are the leaders 
and teachers of the people, to help to cultivate a feeling 
and perception of their national peculiarity, and make 
clear God's grand purpose in the establishment of the na- 
tion and government. For it is only by means of Christi- 
anity that nationalities can attain the development to which 
they are really appointed. 



352 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



SECTION II. 

THE CHRISTIAN STATE. 

The Notion of the Christian State. — Humanity is above 
nationality. The national State must recognize and mani- 
fest itself as a state of humanity. But humanity can never 
be delivered from its limitations, nor come to a true knowl- 
edge of itself, without Christianity : and it is only under 
its influence that it can reach its full and true development. 
Hence the truly humanistic State is one and the same with 
the Christian State. 

The Christian State is a notion which excites much op- 
position in these days. Generally speaking, nothing is 
more unreasonable than the view that the State, the most 
comprehensive of all earthly institutions, and one which so 
decidedly plays a chief part in the world's history, should 
be withdrawn from the influences of Christianity, and thus 
excluded from that transformation of things temporal 
which Christianity is designed to effect. The necessity for 
the Christian character of the State is mainly founded on 
the fact that the State does not exist for the sake of this 
or that subordinate aim, but for the sake of human nature 
itself, that its vocation is to furnish and work out all those 
external conditions which are indispensable to the general 
development of human culture and prosperity. It is for 
this very reason that there can be no constitution or gov- 
ernment worthy the name which is not pervaded by a 
thorough understanding of the nature and destination of 
man, of the history of the race, and the ultimate object of 



THE STATE. 



353 



human history. Again, the necessity for the Christian 
State rests upon the circumstance that the State is the 
realm of external justice. But external justice cannot be 
carried out or administered without internal justice; in 
other words, without a religious and moral disposition, by 
which alone it can come to pass that the laws are obeyed 
not from fear of punishment, but for conscience' sake. 
This again brings us back to Christianity, which, with its 
heavenly citizenship, makes us truly fit for citizenship in this 
world. 

We may therefore define the Christian State as that form 
of government whose fundamental moral ideas are deter- 
mined by the principles of Christianity. In this view the 
kingdom of God among men is the centre and aim of his- 
tory, and the State is a mere instrument for the develop- 
ment and promotion of the kingdom of God and the king- 
dom of mankind on earth. Religious liberty, as vindicating 
the rights of personality, of full self-determination in matters 
of conscience and salvation, is demanded by Christianity 
itself. The State, therefore, must aid in promoting the Chris- 
tianity of the people by the maintenance of Christian cus- 
toms and usages, by the proper education of the people in 
Christian schools, by guarding the sacredness of marriage, 
and by impressing on its laws and institutions the general 
ideas and principles of Christianity. 

Unbelief within the Christian State. — How far the Chris- 
tian State can be a fact, depends chiefly on whether the • 
" Christian Nation " is a fact. By this it is not meant 
that vital personal Christianity must be possessed by all, 
24 



354 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



but that the nation should on the whole bow to the author- 
ity of Christianity, and occupy towards it a position of 
discipleship, though but an elementary and incipient one. 
In these our days, however, an emancipation has taken 
place within Christian nations,, not merely from illegal re- 
straints, but from Christianity itself, whose authority it is 
desired to throw off. Among many, not only of those 
moving in the higher classes of society, but also in the 
lower, faith is undermined, and many openly oppose 
Christianity, while many more are totally indifferent. In 
place of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the modern gospels of 
humanitarianism, happiness, and socialism, with their ra- 
tionalistic, naturalistic, and materialistic doctrines, have 
found acceptance, in extensive circles. In addition to 
all this there exists a one-sided irreligious and immoral in- 
dividualism, which is undermining the Christian State, and 
which is by its very nature selfishness, a system of opinion 
and practice which consciously and formally lays down the 
doctrine, that the earthly prosperity of the individual is 
the highest reality. The great aim of this whole move- 
ment is that Christianity should be thrust out of public life. 



SECTION III. 

THE STATE AND THE CIVIL COMMUNITY. 

The Classes of Mankind. — Within the province of the 
State, and under its control as the all-directing power, is 
developed the civil community. But for the supply of the 



THE STATE. 



355 



manifold material and intellectual requirements of the 
times, a " division of labor " is necessary, and hence arises 
a multiplicity of activities for the attainment of the vari- 
ous moTal aims which work together for the all-embracing 
aim of humanity. According to these various activities, 
mankind is divided into different classes. They who be- 
long to the same class have the same vocation, and conse- 
quently similar interests, but not necessarily the same cul- 
ture, opinions, and mode of living. The civil community 
in one sense is a combination of individuals and families, 
but in another and a truer sense, it is a union of the dif- 
ferent classes of society in their interaction and co-opera- 
tion. 

Distinction of Classes. — In our country each individual 
has the same relation to the State, and has the same politi- 
cal rights. We can also draw a distinction between those in 
the employ of the State and those who are not. Among 
the first are the Public Officials and the Military. Among 
the private classes we can distinguish between the agricul- 
tural, industrial, commercial, laboring, and professional 
classes. Among the latter are included physicians, law- 
yers, teachers, artists, and clergymen. 

The Agricultural Class. — It is the task of the agricultu- 
ral class to produce, by the cultivation of the land, the 
raw material which is to be worked up for the supply of the 
manifold wants of man. If viewed in the proper way it is 
the most independent, happiest, and health-giving of all 
vocations. The farmer has in his daily toil a direct call 
to piety and patient submission to the divine guidance of 



356 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



human affairs, for the success of his labor depends entirely 
upon the gifts of nature, and is conditioned by rain and 
fruitful seasons from heaven (James 5 : 7). Nature in this 
case does much, human labor comparatively little. In his 
fellowship with nature the life of the agriculturist obtains a 
stamp of uniformity, and he acquires a liking for settled 
habits, a partiality for the accustomed and the old. With 
this uniformity is connected a certain regularity and sim- 
plicity of life, a plainness and moderation in food, cloth- 
ing and habitation. His conservatism is based on the fact 
that he desires not merely to increase his possession of 
land, but above all things to preserve his land, farm and 
husbandry for himself and his descendants. There is, 
however, great temptation for the agricultural class, when 
in prosperity, to become discontented with the mode of 
life best adapted for farming, and enter upon a new one 
connected with an undue amount of luxury. 

TTte Industrial Class. — This class has for its task the 
working up of natural products and raw material for the 
supply of human wants. It includes the artisan and the 
manufacturer ; the artisan laboring for the special wants 
of the individual, the manufacturer for any abstract gener- 
al want. 

Nothing but the raw material is provided for the artisan 
and manufacturer ; labor must do everything in produc- 
ing the desired objects. They must manage and econo- 
mize time in a very different and far stricter sense than 
the husbandman. Success here mainly depends upon dili- 
gence and the inventive faculty. This class is noted more 
for its progress than for its conservatism. 



THE STATE. 



357 



The Commercial Class. — The task of this class is to sell 
the productions of both nature and art, and to make them 
into wares. It forms the medium between producers and 
consumers. In its connection with traffic, it brings the 
different quarters of the world into mutual intercourse, 
and is consequently a powerful promoter of culture. As 
commerce cannot always be transacted with money, but 
depends upon credit, upon confidence and mercantile so- 
lidity, the main point in the morals of the commercial 
class is a punctual and inviolable fulfilment of any obliga- 
tions entered upon. As business cannot be carried on 
without credit, neither can it without speculation, without 
a survey of the possibilities of advantage or profit. Hence 
it is the part of the commercial class to be watchful, and 
to give heed to opportunities. 

The Laboring Class. — This class as a rule includes all 
those who possess nothing but their power of laboring, and 
are without property, and work for a certain amount of 
wages in factories, workshops, fields, docks, and mines. 

There is a great difference between the condition of 
the various laboring classes, — and here we come in contact 
with the so-called labor question of the day, and with the 
conflict of Labor and Capital, which it is not our object 
to discuss in this place. 

The State and the Civil Community. — Notwithstanding 
those features and interests which are common to all, each 
class regards life from its own special point of view. Not 
only existence in general, but also the social life of man, 
presents one image to the army officer, another to the law- 



358 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



yer, another to the manufacturer, another to the farmer, 
another to the artist, another to the miner, and another to 
the clergyman. But over the several classes, over the civil 
community as such, with its man)' particular intersecting 
aims, stands the State, as the ruling and directing power 
of the whole, the legal ordinance, which assigns its place 
to the individual and the special. 

The State and the civil community thus form a unity in 
which two systems, the political and social, are continually 
acting upon each other. The State is the system of gov- 
ernment, of law and of justice, ordained by the people, 
for the mutual government of the people, encompassing 
and pervading the whole civil community. The civil com- 
munity is the system of life interests, which is developed 
within the province of the State and governed by its laws. 



SECTION IV. 

SOCIALISM. 

The Common Weal. — The duty of the State in its union 
with civil society is to promote by the means at its dispo- 
sal the common weal. Taken in its full meaning, the com- 
mon weal signifies a state of general prosperity, through 
an harmonious union of ethical and material possessions ; 
a condition, therefore, in which labor and profit are inti- 
mately blended. And though this condition may never 
be fully attained, as earthly things are now constituted, it 
should still be always kept in view by those who direct the 



THE STA TE. 



359 



State and make the laws. To attain approximately the 
aim in question, the State government must keep in view 
the welfare, both of the whole community and of individ- 
uals, — in other words, must take into consideration the 
truth both of socialism and of individualism. 

National prosperity does not depend only upon the 
quantity of property existing in a nation, but is rather de- 
termined by the way and manner in which it is distributed. 
It is only present where the far larger majority of the peo- 
ple form a well-supplied middle class, with a moderate pro- 
portion of personal property. The prosperity attainable 
by a nation depends on the combination of two factors, 
the industry and inventive genius of its people, and the 
natural advantages which the country affords. 

The Relation of Christianity to the General Prosperity 
of a Country. — Christianity proclaims that all men are es- 
sentially equal, because all are created in the image of God, 
— equal, because all are sinners in bondage to the law, and 
exposed to judgment; equal, because all are called to the 
liberty of the children of God in Christ. It by no means 
desires to abolish necessary distinctions in human society, 
but aims at harmonizing them in the union of love. It 
interests itself in the despised of this world, in the weak 
and oppressed, in the woman, the slave, and the poor. 

It is a misconception to think that Christianity desires 
to convert human society into a community of mere asce- 
tics, living in constant and voluntary poverty. But Chri^ 
tianity values riches only so far as they are placed at the 
disposal of the moral and religious spirit, and the rich 



360 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



must regard themselves as the stewards of God, as admin- 
istrators of property entrusted to their care, for the use 
and due application of which they will one day have to 
give account at the judgment-seat of God. But riches 
will be also employed in the interest of the whole commu- 
nity, and for the promotion of the comprehensive aims of 
true culture. 

Christianity, though chiefly and above all intent on gain- 
ing individual souls for the heavenly citizenship, also ex- 
ercises, by means of its evangelical principle of liberty 
and equality, its peculiar view of riches and poverty, and 
its ennoblement of bodily labor, a refining and reforming 
influence upon civil society, even with respect to the ques- 
tions of the right distribution of property and the pros- 
perity of nations. In proportion as nations suffer them- 
selves to be pervaded by the principles of Christianity, 
and therefore in proportion as the material interests of life 
are subordinated to its higher and spiritual interests, and 
are regulated thereby, will a path be opened for a juster 
and more consistent distribution of property, and the ex- 
tremes of riches and poverty, of superfluity and want, be 
equalized. Where these extremes prevail, it is always a 
sign that a nation is not yet penetrated by Christian prin- 
ciples, or that a declension from Christianity has taken 
place. The assertion that Christianity has nothing to do 
with a nation and national prosperity, cannot but lead to 
the assertion that morality has nothing to do with political 
economy. Such a view would deny any relation between 
the laws of political economy and the moral government 
of the world. 



THE STATE. 



361 



The Labor Question. — It cannot be disputed that free 
competition (extreme individualism) has contributed to 
the development of many forces and promoted the welfare 
of numbers. Nor can it be denied that capital is of great- 
er importance to society when extensive undertakings are 
carried on. But as little can it be denied, that free com- 
petition in a country has diffused misfortune and poverty 
among a far greater number of persons, that thousands 
upon thousands have to fight for their daily bread a des- 
perate battle, in which they at length utterly succumb to 
the stronger. And this fact it is that has produced the so- 
called labor question, which has now become world-excit- 
ing, and the solution of which will affect the future destiny 
of civil society. 

The relation between employers and employed is no 
longer a personal, but an impersonal one, a relation be- 
tween two things, capital and labor, and not between two 
persons. The workman counts for just so much labor. 
And it is this labor-power which he sells for a certain time 
to his employer, who regards it like any other commodity. 
This newly arisen relation is distinguished from the slavery 
of the ancient world only by the fact that the slave was 
bound to a single master, and could not change masters, 
while the workman is bound to the whole class of employ- 
ers. As soon as the employer dismisses him, or closes his 
factory, the workman is left to live on air ; on this account 
he is obliged to seek work, and to take it wherever and 
under whatever conditions he can at the moment get it. 
The longer we dwell on this subject the darker it seems to 



362 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



become. Look at the kind of life prevailing in factories. 
Workmen, men, women, and children, are nothing more 
than a piece of flesh and blood machinery, inserted among 
the steel and iron portions, to work along with them. Nor 
does bodily health suffer less than mind and heart by this 
factory life. Adults die off in their best years, not merely 
because their lives are shortened by scanty and sometimes 
unwholesome fare, but because factory work itself in a 
heated, moist, impure atmosphere, is evidently, in many 
respects, prejudicial to health. 

Similar phenomena also appear outside the sphere of fac- 
tory work properly so called. We need here only men- 
tion the women employed in dressmaking and millinery 
and clothing establishments. 

It is said that the condition of workmen is their own 
fault, because, even when they have abundant wages, they 
do not lay by, but live only for the moment. It is said 
that every Saturday evening, after the payment of the 
weekly wages, thousands spend most of their money for 
drink ; and lastly, that as a rule they are irreligious, being 
infected with materialistic, socialistic, and atheistic doc- 
trines. 

In answer, the question arises : Is it the personal guilt 
alone of the individual which here encounters us, or the 
guilt of the whole civil community ? Is it to be wondered 
at that they are addicted to many vices, when pleasures of 
a higher and nobler nature are inaccessible to them ? Is 
it marvelous that they should lend an ear to the material- 
istic and atheistic doctrines of the age, if no one cares for 



THE STATE. 



363 



their mental development ? The sting which this social 
problem bears in it is still further envenomed, when we 
contemplate the multitudes willing to work for even the 
lowest pay, who are out of employment. 

This great problem has not yet been solved, but we will 
now examine the manner in which Modern Socialism at- 
tempts to solve it. 

Utopian and Revolutionary Socialism. — There is a one- 
sided socialism of the present day which desires to abolish 
distinctions among individuals, and insists upon fellowship 
and brotherhood, demanding the same rights and the same 
property for all. The simplest way of attaining this seems 
to be to do away with all private property and private earn- 
ings, and to transform civil society into one great common 
household, in which neither this man nor that, but the 
whole community, is the great capitalist and employer, 
whose part it is to make an equitable distribution to all of 
both labor and profit. 

This notion is an old one, and has frequently been de- 
veloped into poetic descriptions. It is found so early as 
in Plato, and has frequently reappeared since his time in 
numerous political romances, which have developed social- 
istic and communistic views, and contained at the same 
time an indirect condemnation and satire of the imperfect 
and often unjust state of - affairs actually existing. Among 
these, perhaps the most important is the famous " Utopia " 
of Sir Thomas More. We may also here mention the 
"Telemachus " of Fenelon, Sibbern's "Aus dem Jahre 
2135," and Bellamy's "Looking Backward." 



3^4 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



As long, however, as we live on earth, and have not ar- 
rived at the harmonies of eternity, — as long as we have 
still a history, we have the great battles of life to fight. 
And there is in the present struggle for existence an ele - 
ment which can never wholly disappear from life in this 
world. The importance to be attributed to all such ro- 
mances rests mainly on the condemnation they pass upon 
the defects of existing systems ; also upon their keeping 
alive the consciousness that a more perfect condition is to 
be aimed at, and laying down certain postulates, which can 
only be realized on this earth, approximately and under 
great limitations. 

As long as these Utopian ideas are but manifested in ro- 
mances it will do very well, but the moment they are di- 
rectly put into practice, they become revolutionary and 
threaten society with a chaotic confusion. This applies to 
Socialism, which has from time to time reappeared since 
the days of the French Revolution. The view of life on 
which the whole modern system of Socialism is founded is 
not ethical or moral, but essentially naturalistic and eude- 
monistic. Earthly enjoyment and the pleasures of sense 
are esteemed the highest good, and the sole object of hu- 
man life ; of this supreme good, all must henceforth be 
partakers. 

It is true indeed that this kind of Socialism has come 
forward with a certain tinge of religion also ; nay, it has 
appealed to Christ as the first socialist, who placed all men 
on a level. It promises to give the world a new Christi 
anity, the substance of which is to replace all the funda- 



THE STATE. 



365 



menial doctrines of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The Gos- 
pel of this new Christianity is : Thou shalt love thy neigh- 
bor as thyself. But the love of our neighbor thus pro- 
claimed aims at nothing further than securing him the 
same share of sensuous pleasures which we desire for our- 
selves, a share in a complete carnal emancipation, includ- 
ing release from marriage and its sacred restraints. The 
god to be worshiped is nature, and the more closely this 
whole mode of thought is examined, the more radically ir- 
religious it becomes, and proves itself openly hostile to 
Christianity and the Church. 

This whole movement, notwithstanding the terror it in- • 
spires in Christian thinking minds, has a relative justifica- 
tion in the presence of existing circumstances as developed 
in all their injustice under the name of individualism, free 
competition, and abuse of capital and of monopolies. 
But it is quite another thing whether Socialism is the solu- 
tion of the Labor Problem. 

Ethic Socialism. — We have hitherto been considering 
the two extreme tendencies which in our days stand op- 
posed to each other ; on the one hand, extreme individu- 
alism, which dates from Adam Smith, and which is essen- 
tially the system dominant in society to this hour ; and on 
the other, extreme socialism, which threatens society with 
revolution. Time will show how present circumstances will 
yet disentangle, but we cannot but think that such a state 
of society must be aimed at as shall contain in principle 
the truth which is found in both extremes, and maintain 
the rights of both the society and the individual. There 



366 CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 

is, moreover, a moral and Christian Socialism, as well as 
an Utopian and revolutionary one. Christianity paints no 
Utopias, describes to us no perfect conditions to be intro- 
duced in this world ; but it aims to help us to struggle 
against earthly care and want, so that the kingdom of God, 
and therefore the true kingdom of man, embracing, as it 
does, not only his spiritual but also his material life, may 
come upon earth and prosper. 

Ethic Socialism, as conditioned by Christianity, regards 
human affairs, as they actually are, under present and earth- 
ly circumstances. It is conservative, it enters indeed into 
reforms and reformations, but not into revolutions. It is 
at the same time individualistic, in the true meaning of the 
word. It does not, however, like liberalism, direct the in- 
dividual " to help himself ", and to compete as best he 
may. Its constant aim is the restoration of a social con- 
dition in which every one who is willing to work may 
really earn his daily head. Christianity confirms and ver- 
ifies the words spoken to man at the beginning : "In the 
sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread" (Gen. 3: 19). 
But we must not overlook the promise given in these 
words. He who works shall really have bread. Christianity 
teaches us most definitely that the laborer is worthy of his 
hire (Luke 10 : 7), and Hence requires that a just and con- 
sistent proportion should exist between work and wages. 
It utters its sharp rebuke against the selfish employer 
(James 5 : 4). 

The Saviour of the world also teaches us in the Lord's 
Prayer to pray for our daily bread. This implies that if 



THE STATE. 



367 



we fulfil the conditions connected with the prayer, bread 
shall certainly and truly be given us. We should do well 
here to notice that our Lord taught us to make this request 
not only in an individualistic, but in a socialistic sense, 
" Give us this day our daily bread." And in proportion 
as Christianity penetrates a whole nation all will pray and 
work together for the fulfilment of their prayer. The ob- 
stacles to this fulfilment may indeed be in the individual, 
in his idleness or extravagance, but they may equally lie in 
civil society, in its bad or unwise enactments, or in its 
want of proper laws. 

But he only has daily bread in the Christian sense who 
is able at the same time to pray and to labor for the ful- 
filment of the first petition of the Lord's Prayer : " Hal- 
lowed be Thy name"; and who therefore will keep the 
Lord's Day holy, and hallow it as a day of rest and wor- 
ship, — and who is also able to work, both in his own soul, 
and on those of others, for the second petition : " Thy 
kingdom come " ; and who, while fulfilling his earthly 
calling, can within his own family, or in the circle of his 
nearest friends, be effectively promoting the coming of 
God's kingdom. 

The great question is to help the laboring class to a real 
family life as the foundation of all truly moral personal 
life, to assist him to procure a home for himself, and the 
comfort of a provision for old age or for sickness. Be- 
sides the moral and the religious, the technical education 
and improvement. of the working man must be provided 
for, so that he may cease to be a mere machine, and de- 
velop a truly personal character. 



3 68 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



Legislation by the State. — If we inquire as to the means 
by which this end is to be reached we must first of all lay 
stress upon a proper relation between employers and work- 
men. Their relation should be ruled by a spirit of humane 
and Christian love, in which the rights of both sides are 
recognized. It is a question, however, whether the per- 
formance of such important duties ought to be left to mere 
individual inclination, or, on the one hand under the con- 
trol of the capitalists, or, on the other, to the organiza- 
tions of labor, known as Trades-unions. There is only 
one true solution of this problem. The State, in a mat- 
ter so powerfully affecting the welfare of the whole com- 
munity, must no longer comfort itself with the thought 
that the world can go on of itself, but must perceive that 
it is a part of its duty to afford its energetic co-operation. 

We are here confining ourselves to pointing out, in a 
general manner, the direction in which social reform in 
this department must take place, without surrendering our- 
selves to Utopian schemes. We cannot regard as Utopian 
the demand that legislation should afford protection to 
workmen, as well as to corporations. We see no reason 
why the State cannot pass laws fixing the limit of the num- 
ber of hours of labor, the prohibition of Sunday labor, 
laws concerning the employment of the labor of women 
and children, laws concerning the care of operatives work- 
ing in unhealthy rooms, laws adapted to avoid strikes and 
to avoid oppression by improper reduction of wages. If a 
State has marine laws, commercial laws, and laws of ex- 
change, why should it be unable to enact labor laws ? But 



THE STATE. 



369 



this is a problem that our legislators must solve, and the 
solution will ultimately fall on the people themselves, de- 
manding through their representatives the passage of the 
proper laws. 

The Solution Christianity Offers. — We now turn from 
the State-help to self-help. By self-help we mean the self- 
education through which every one can conquer his evil in- 
clinations, and work out and raise himself to a true moral 
personality. Above all other the working-man needs this 
self-help. But he must also be assisted ; he needs direc- 
tion and support. As long as he is attached to doctrines 
which deny Christ and God, as long as he cannot be in- 
duced to renounce the pernicious idea, subversive of all 
morality, that the sole object of his life is to pursue earthly 
objects and pleasures, it will be impossible to help him. 
The only remedy, the only hope for the laboring class is 
Christianity, — the Christian faith, the Christian view of 
life. 

But if Christianity, with its gospel for the poor, is alone 
able to help in this case, it is also certain that the Church 
is called upon to co-operate in the solution of the social 
problem. A wide field is here opened for the " Inner 
Mission." The word and preaching are not sufficient 
alone. An interest must absolutely be taken in the mate- 
rial prosperity of the workmen and their families. They 
must be helped not only by Christian instruction and 
spiritual influence, but by sympathy and actual and effec- 
tive assistance, which, however, need not always take a pe- 
cuniary form. 

25 



37o 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



We must not forget, however, that a perfect state of 
things cannot be established on earth as long as sin, tran- 
sitoriness, and death abide here. That unsolved problems 
will ever remain is what no reasonable man can doubt. 
" The poor ye have always with you " (John 12:8). At 
all times it will remain the duty of the Church and of so- 
ciety to take care of its poor. 



SECTION V. 

THE STATE AND PUBLIC MORALITY. 

Public Morality. — To the common weal pertains not 
only prevailing prosperity, but general morality. The 
amount of culture and civilization found in a nation is not 
the only condition of public morality, but its special con- 
ditions are found in the moral principles which govern 
personal life, the measure of justice and love, of obedience 
and honesty diffused throughout the community, and in 
the readiness shown to make sacrifices for the whole. The 
character of the public morality is also shown in the rela- 
tions which the different classes of society occupy towards 
each other, and manifests itself especially in the relation 
in which labor and profit stand to each other ; whether in- 
dustry, combined with moderation, is an all-pervading and 
predominant virtue in the nation, or whether the love of 
pleasure and the pursuit of enjoyment, with an attachment 
to luxury, have the upper hand. But.above all is its char- 
acter shown in the relation which individuals occupy to the 



THE STATE. 



371 



arrangements and institutions of the whole ; — whether the 
sacredness of family life and of marriage is recognized and 
upheld ; whether marriages are lightly entered into and 
dissolved ; whether prostitution is of great extent in large 
cities; whether law and the authority of government are 
respected ; whether legal offences and crimes are of fre- 
quent occurrence ; whether the people are, on the whole, 
still penetrated with reverence for religion and the Church, 
or whether unbelief, indifference, and frivolity have the 
upper hand. In proportion as the ties which bind indi- 
viduals to these ordinances are relaxed, does a decay of 
morality set in. 

It is in the nature of the case, that much of what has 
here been touched on can neither be commanded nor for- 
bidden on the part of the State. Still the State can and 
must co-operate in the development and confirmation of 
public morality. A mutual interaction always exists be- 
tween the morals and the laws of a State. As morals influ- 
ence legislation, so does legislation in its turn influence 
morals. The State works positively on the side of moral- 
ity by protecting the Christian religion and aiding the 
spread of Christian education, and negatively by opposing 
public scandals. That the Christian State must protect 
Christian worship is self-evident. With all the liberty of 
speech and conscience which the Christian State may grant, 
it cannot tolerate blasphemy, and open contempt for the 
Christian religion, whether its expressions are orally ut- 
tered in public meetings, or make their appearance by 
means of the press. It cannot permit the public exhibi- 



372 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



tion of such works of art as offend the general moral feel- 
ing, or the representation of plays in which holy things are 
profaned. The toleration of houses of ill-fame and gam- 
bling-houses, by the State can only serve to cause scandals. 
The same can be said of lotteries, in which persons are 
tempted to obtain wealth and property in an immoral man- 
ner. In all this, the question is not whether the govern- 
ment is to banish immorality from the world, for this is 
impossible, but whether it becomes the State to debase the 
moral notions of the people, or whether it may do this by 
legalizing immorality instead of branding vice as vice. 

Transgression and Punishment. — The administration of 
justice on the part of the State is of essential importance 
to public morality, for it is not only of importance to indi- 
viduals whose rights are. thus personally secured, but to the 
whole civil community. For this reason, legal institutions 
must be absolutely maintained against all caprice and des- 
potism. 

The penal law of a State is not founded upon human 
compact and custom, but upon the fact that it is deter- 
mined to maintain justice upon earth, according to the 
will of God, by external enactments and means. For the 
ruler is" a minister of God, an avenger for wrath to him 
that doeth evil " (Rom. 13 : 4). The idea of punishment \s 
not so much that the criminal may be imprisoned so that 
he may be brought to amendment, or that others may be 
deterred, from committing like acts, or that society may be 
defended against criminals, — although these different views 
have been held by some. The first and essential point of 



THE STATE. 



373 



view which furnishes us with the main element in the idea 
of punishment is, that punishment must be inflicted for the 
sake of justice. 

Punishment is the reaction of justice against the infrac- 
tion of some legal enactment, which latter thus asserts 
itself as a power even with respect to the transgressor. It 
is the law whose authority and sacredness have been vio- 
lated, and to which satisfaction is offered by the criminal 
incurring just retribution. While the criminal suffers just 
punishment, this suffering — supposing he does not harden 
himself — will serve to arouse in his soul conviction of sin 
and repentance, and thus contribute to his amendment, 
while it will at the same time be useful in exerting a deter- 
ring influence upon others. But the proper, essential and 
fundamental idea of punishment, if it is considered of and 
by itself, is this, that satisfaction is done to justice, so that 
" Judgment shall return unto righteousness" (Ps. 94: 15). 
But in all cases punishment must be proportioned to the 
actual nature of the transgression. 

Our own times are giving actual proof how much may 
be done in turning imprisonment into a real blessing. In 
contrast to the barbarous punishments of former ages, the 
penal legislation of the day is distinguished for its human- 
ity. But still great improvements can be made, especially 
in our treatment of the younger class of criminals. As 
among the darker features of our times we must regard the 
fact, that humanity is often exercised at the expense of 
justice, and that there is often in high places a laxity and 
weakness in the administration of justice, which cannot 



374 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



but have a pernicious effect upon morality and upon the 
general condition of the public. 

Capital Punishment. — The supreme and heaviest punish- 
ment is that of death. In former times this was inflicted 
but too frequently, and for widely differing crimes. The 
one-sided humanity of our days reveals itself by urging 
the total abolition of capital punishment. There is, how- 
ever, one crime, namely, wilful murder, which calls for 
capital punishment as its only corresponding penalty. This 
is laid down so early as in Gen. 9 : 6, long before the na- 
tion of Israel as such appeared in history, and was ad- 
dressed to all mankind. This view of capital punishment 
pervades the whole Old Testament, while in the New its 
lawfulness is assumed in such passages as Rom. 13: 4; 
Matt. 26: 52; Rev. 13: 10. Even apart from this, cap- 
ital punishment originates in the very nature of the case. 
For if punishment is to be righteous retribution, and if 
crime and punishment are to be proportioned to each 
other, the deliberate destruction of human life must be 
punished with death. 



SECTION VI, 

CIVIL VIRTUE. 

Patriotism. — Civil virtue has both a social and political 
character. In its social aspect it is shown when an indi- 
vidual worthily occupies his position in life, and makes it 
his glory to perform with ability and uprightness the duties 
of a calling in which he serves not himself only, but the 



THE STATE. 



375 



whole community. In its political aspect civil virtue ap- 
pears in the form of obedience to the laws and institutions 
of the State, including a willingness to pay to the latter 
all the taxes which are its due (Rom. 13: 1-7). It ap- 
pears as dutiful obedience to the authority of the State, 
and readiness to take part in the defence of the country 
in times of danger. Civil virtue thus has its foundation 
in patriotism, or love for your country, and its history. 

The more political life is developed, the more are public 
characters also developed. In them political virtue will 
be manifested in a more strongly marked form. If a pub- 
lic character is to keep pure and upright, he must possess 
moderation and self-control as well as justice, and be ca- 
pable of practising resignation. He must know how to 
bear misconception, unjust and dishonoring attacks, things 
quite inseparable from public life. To be able, however, 
to practise resignation, he must be a man of sound princi- 
ples. 

Public Opinion. — Wherever there is political life, there 
also will be found that public opinion which is the expres- 
sion of prevailing views and tendencies. Public opinion 
generally contains an element of truth, because the true, 
the good, and the right, work instinctively in the human 
conscience. But there is often such a confused mingling 
of truth and falsehood, right and wrong, reason and pas- 
sion, wisdom and folly, and opposing party views so mis- 
represent matters, that it is hard to say what public o inion 
is, or to speak of it as united. Hence there is good rea- 
son for both esteeming and despising public opinion ; and 



37^ 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



every one who would effect anything in the service of truth 
and justice, must occupy this double position with respect 
to it. 

The Press. — Public opinion has for its main organ the 
press. This does not only give expression to prevailing 
public opinion, but seeks by its so-called " leading arti- 
cles " to influence it. It is the spirit of the age which speaks 
and is expressed in newspapers. Not inaptly have they 
been called the second-hand upon the clock of history, for 
they have respect to the moment, they work for the mo- 
ment, and aim at producing a momentary effect. Hence 
the value of the press must neither be overestimated nor 
undervalued. It is undoubtedly a great power in society. 
Its power rests upon the fact that it speaks to a great num- 
ber at once, " as in a great popular assembly," and that its 
sayings are daily reiterated. Its power depends upon re- 
petition ; for if the same thing is said over and over again, 
the multitude at last believes that it must be true. 

What we ask of the press is love of truth arid moral in- 
dependence. This in many is very difficult, for a news- 
paper exists only by its subscribers and advertisers. Now, 
when these desire to read nothing but their own opinions, 
and wish to see only their own tendencies favored in the 
paper, what is an editor to do ? A newspaper must make 
itself so indispensable to the public by the worth of its 
contents and attractiveness of its style, that it can. express 
its views freely and fearlessly and still in such a way that 
opponents are not willing to dispense with it. But under 
all circumstances we must maintain that the liberty of the 



THE STATE. 



377 



press must be guaranteed, if the press is to fulfil its voca- 
tion. 

War. — Under the influence of Christianity there has 
been formed, in opposition to national selfishness and 
the right of the stronger, an international law, which re- 
quires that the mutual relations of nations shall be deter- 
mined according to the principles of justice and Christian 
humanity. None the less, however, does the history of 
Christianity, even down to our own days, display a series 
of trangressions of law committed by one nation upon 
another. The true vocation of war, however, is to serve 
as a means of preventing injustice and violence* by physi- 
cal force, and of extorting what justice demands. 

War is one of the most powerful testimonies to the cor- 
ruption of human nature, one of the greatest calamities 
and plagues of this world. It is, however, a necessary 
evil, and one based upon a divine ordinance. For rulers 
do not bear the sword in vain (Rom. 13 : 1-7), and must 
use it against the external as well as the internal foes of 
society. It is in the fact that the sword is given by God 
to the ruler, that the reason and justification of war con- 
sist. But it is just because this God-given sword is de- 
livered into the hands of sinful men, that it may be so 
fearfully misused. Only that war is in accordance with 
the divine ordinance which is carried on with the weapons 
of righteousness and in the cause of righteousness. A 
just war must proceed from objective violations of justice, 
and must at the same time have sufficient justification ; for 
not every transgression is a sufficient cause for war. And 



37S- 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



since war brings with it so many horrors, and he who be- 
gins it takes upon himself so enormous a responsibility, a 
war should never be commenced till everything has been 
tried that may lead to a pacific solution of the dispute. 

There are some Christian sects, as the Mennonites and 
Quakers, who regard the calling of the soldier as incom- 
patible with that of the Christian, and hence refuse to per- 
form military duty. This view arises from not distinguish- 
ing between the community of the saints, — the kingdom 
of higher and spiritual righteousness, in which a disposi- 
tion in conformity with the gospel is to prevail, and where * 
the precepts of the Lord (Matt. 5 : 39) find their applica- 
tion to individual circumstances, — and the State as the re- 
gion of external justice, in which law and the sword must 
prevail. To deny the lawfulness of war is the same thing 
as to deny the State. But the State cannot cease as long 
as we are on earth. And a Christian must live at the same 
time in two kingdoms, — in the kingdom of the higher 
righteousness, and in that of external, legal justice, in 
which justice must be promoted by external means. It 
may also be further remarked that the sword which is used 
in battle is not the sword of the murderer, but one given 
by God to execute justice upon earth. 

It is a delusion to suppose that war can ever be abol- 
ished, for then we must know also how to banish sin and 
injustice from the world. The means, however, by which 
the earthly ideal of peace is to be striven for, is an alli- 
ance of Christian States for the maintenance of peace ac- 



THE STATE. 



379 



cording to the principles of Christian love and justice, and 
hence a state of things in which the policy is determined 
by morality. 



CHAPTER III. 

THE IDEAL TASKS OF CULTURE. 



SECTION I. 

ART. 

Art and Science. — Culture and civilization develop in 
the life of nations in connection with political and social 
efforts. Civilization may be understood as culture in its 
application and effects upon the civil community and its 
arrangements. The chief blossoms of culture are found 
in art and science, which do not, as the manifold other 
tasks of culture, aim at any direct advantage, but whose 
value is found in themselves. 

Next to religion and moral goodness, there is nothing 
which is to such a degree capable of developing in us true 
humanity, as art and science ; nothing which can in like 
manner set us free from those intellectual restrictions with 
which we often go through life. It is, however, only by a 
right use of art and science, that we can take possession, 
in an ideal manner, of the world and its manifold life. 

While art and science have an educational effect, they 
afford at the same time an elevated kind of delight, which 
is combined with an exaltation above the visible and ac- 

(380) 



IDEAL TASKS OF CULTURE, 381 

tual. Art has this advantage over science, that it is capa- 
ble of charming most men, while science is only for the 
comparatively smaller circle. 

Art and Humanity. — The subject of art is man and 
man's world. The different arts denote different stages in 
the realization of the ideal of humanity, from architecture,* 
which builds and adorns a dwelling for man or a temple 
for the Deity whom man worships, sculpture, painting, 
music, up to poetry, by means of which man and human 
life attain their most perfect representation. And it is 
poetry which must be chiefly had in view when the impor- ' 
tance of art with regard to the moral life is in question. 

Art is intended for the whole human race and for all na- 
tions, and consequently it accompanies the race through 
the whole course of its historical development. Hence we 
distinguish between ancient heathen art and Christian art, 
— a distinction which is based upon their respective differ- 
ent views of the ideal of humanity, and of the nature and 
destiny of man. But when it is required that all modern 
art should, as such, be Christian Art, it is not meant that 
art must be exclusively religious, and place itself directly 
in the service of religion, or of the Church. 

If inquiry is made as to the effects produced by art, 
whether upon nations or individuals, the answer is: it 
gives pleasure and it educates. But the pleasure which art 
affords is not purely intellectual but aesthetic. We need 
this pleasure as an inward refreshment, a release from the 
pressure of business, from labor amidst the dust of reality. 

The educational effects of art consist in its enlargement 



3 82 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



of our horizon, and its development of our feeling and in 
terest for all that is human, and therewith for all that ex- 
ists. It educates us to look at actual life with clearer eyes, 
and develops our organ for the poetry of life and of exis- 
tence itself, and this is of most essential importance. An- 
other chief effect of art is to educate by instructing. Art, 
by means of its pictures of life, proclaims practical wis- 
dom, and does this, as far as the majority are concerned, 
far more effectually than philosophy, whose teaching is ex- 
pressed in general ideas addressed to the understanding. 
Music does not instruct, but it certainly educates. It has 
an ennobling effect upon heart and mind, develops a feel- 
ing for rhythm and harmony, and thus cultivates an under- 
standing of the harmonies of the universe, and of the har- 
mony which should fill the human soul. Besides all this, 
there exists a relation of reciprocity between art and edu- 
cation. Art educates, but to appreciate and find pleasure 
in a work of art, we must already possess a certain amount 
of education. 

Art and Morality. — Much has been said on the relation 
between art and morality. This question has chiefly been 
raised with respect to poetry, and in poetry with respect 
to the drama and fiction. When we hear it asserted that 
morality has nothing to do with poetry, and that moral 
considerations are quite beside the mark in aesthetic criti- 
cism and judgment, we must protest against such an asser- 
tion, because it is really equivalent to saying that actual 
life has nothing to do with poetry. 

Truth is the main demand to be made from art of all 



IDEAL TASKS OF CULTURE. 3^3 



kinds ; we do not mean, however, realistic truth, but that 
higher ideal truth which is contained in the realities of 
things, and which is brought out by the poet, and purified 
by him from the obscurities by which it is clouded in ac- 
tual life. Equally with all untruth must all impurity be 
excluded from art. Purity and chastity are requirements 
resulting from the very nature of art. But it is just be- 
cause art is so closely connected with sensuousness, that 
there is such obvious temptation to present the sensuous in 
false independence, to call forth the mere gratification of 
the senses The sensuous must, however, be always subor- 
dinated to the intellectual, for this is involved in the de- 
mand for ideality, in other words, for that impress of per- 
fection given by the idea and the mind in every artistic 
representation. And even if aesthetic ideality is present 
in a work of art, it must be subordinated to ethic ideality, 
to the moral purity in the artist's mind, a purity diffused 
throughout to the whole. 

As far as concerns the individual who is desirous of mak- 
ing art contribute to the development of his personality, 
we must always remember that art, used in its due propor- 
tion, revives and invigorates, but when immoderately par- 
taken of, enfeebles and enervates, and unfits for practical 
life. This is true of artistic enjoyment in general, includ- 
ing the reading of poetry, novels, and romances. The 
more the mind is filled with these empty shows, the more 
vacant and indolent it becomes, the more it loses of vital 
power and of mental force. 



3^4 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



SECTION II. 

SCIENCE. 

Science and Humanity — While it is the mission of art 
to create a world of beautiful and individual forms, in 
which truth is seen in image and parable, the task imposed 
on science is to investigate existence, its nature and laws, 
for the purpose of knowing truth as truth. The scientific 
instinct is as deeply implanted in human nature as the ar- 
tistic, and the two are closely related. Christianity has 
given to science a new development, not only by emanci- 
pation from the restrictions of the ancient world, but also 
by changing man's relation to God, to the world, and to 
himself. Not only did the new view of life and of the 
world which Christianity introduced, penetrate the world 
of thought in various ways like leaven, but Christianity 
itself brought forth a new science, Theology, and a Chris- 
tian philosophy connected therewith. 

The effects produced by science upon a nation are not 
direct but indirect. It is by a thousand channels that 
science influences general culture and promotes true popu- 
lar enlightenment. That science is unpractical can be the 
assertion only of the short-sighted, who can perceive none 
but direct effects. And yet the natural sciences show, for 
the most part in an entirely direct manner, that science is 
practical. The more general the conviction becomes that 
a knowledge of science in general is of value, the more 
will the demand arise for an intelligible, and popular in- 
struction in science. If philosophical or scientific writers 
cannot make their fundamental views intelligible to a man 



IDEAL TASKS OF CULTURE. 



385 



of general education, it would be better if they would 
cease philosophizing and the instruction of others. 

The School. — The way in which people in general take 
a share in science, is by receiving instruction and by read- 
ing. Moreover, since knowledge is necessary to the pros- 
perity of all the spheres of life, it must also be furnished 
to all. The organizations for this purpose are : (1). Schools •, 
public and private ; (2). Colleges, classical and scientific ; 
(3). Universities, post-graduate courses in Medicine, Law, 
Philosophy, and Theology. 

The aim of all education should be to form the will and 
intellect for a true development of character. The public 
school, in all its grades must impart what is most essential 
to the well-being of those who are to become the future 
citizens of our country. One of the most important ques- 
tions of the day is whether instruction in Christianity 
should be one of the subjects taught in our Public Schools, 
There can be only one answer to this question in a Chris- 
tian community. The Christian religion, but not sectari- 
anism, has its place in public instruction so long as we still 
regard ourselves a Christian country. It is also very de- 
sirable that public instruction be given in the practical 
arts, and the State should provide all that is necessary for 
the welfare of its future citizens, but it is questionable 
whether a knowledge of the Classics ought to be furnished 
in our Public Schools. Those who desire a liberal, or clas- 
sical education, have abundant opportunity in our various 
academies and colleges. Those who prepare themselves 

for a professional career, after the general education re- 
26 



386 CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 

ceived at a College, can prepare themselves more fully at 
the special schools. Universities in the true sense of the 
term are still scarce in the United States, but great ad- 
vance is being made by our older and higher institutions 
of learning. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE CHURCH. 



SECTION I. 

THE CHURCH AND THE KINGDOM OF GOD. 

The Church.— ■" I believe in the Holy Ghost ; the holy 
Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints." When this 
confession was uttered for the first time, it was an absolute 
novelty to the world. By this article of the Apostles' 
Creed, we profess to belong to a community, whose origin 
is not of this world, but from above, a new creation, a di- 
vine institution appointed for the dispensation of the 
means of grace, destined to be the depository of revealed 
truth throughout the ages. Its destination is to comprise 
all the nations of the earth as one great family, and to 
carry on to perfection the whole body of believers. The 
Church is at one and the same time a visible and an invis- 
ible body. It is invisible inasmuch as it is a community 
of saints, not merely a society of professors of religion, 
but of true believers, who, dispersed throughout the world, 
and separated from each other, are yet one in Christ. It is 
invisible also because pervaded by invisible forces and influ- 
ences of grace, and because its heavenly head, Christ, and 

(387) 



3 88 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



the saints in heaven, are invisible. On the other hand, we 
can also speak of the visible Church, in so far as she makes 
herself visible on earth. The Augsburg Confession truly 
defines the Church as "the assembly of all believers, in 
which the gospel is purely preached, and the Sacraments 
administered according to the gospel." 

The Church, however, is not the same thing as the king- 
dom of God. The kingdom of God itself is a far more 
comprehensive notion than the Church. The kingdom of 
God is older than the Church, has existed from the begin- 
ning of creation, and will abide in glory when the Church 
as such has disappeared. 

Edification. — In contrast to the educational influences 
of art and science, those proceeding from the Church may 
be termed edifying. Under the notion of edification we 
comprise all that promotes communion with the Lord and 
the inter-communion of believers. The temple of God is 
to be built up of living stones (Eph. 2: 19, 20; 1 Cor. 
3 : 10, 11 ; 1 Pet. 2 : 5). The task of building points to 
laying the foundation, which is Christ, in the heart by 
faith, and everything is edifying which can help to estab- 
lish human life on this basis. Edification includes in itself 
both the community and the individual. It is the Church 
which is to be built up, the great temple, called also " the 
body of Christ," but the individual is also to be built up 
as an independent temple of the Spirit of God. And this 
spiritual temple of the believer is not to be built up in 
height and depth only, but also in length and breadth 
(Eph. 3: 18). 



THE CHURCH. 



389 



Edification depends upon a co-operation of divine grace 
and human freedom. We are built up by God the Lord, 
but are also to build up ourselves into a spiritual house 
(1 Pet. 2 : 5). It is the result of this human factor in the 
work of edification that the holy Catholic Church appears 
in a variety of particular Churches, of various confessions, 
which have variously fashioned their doctrine, their public 
worship, and their church discipline. 

The Church and Humanity. — The Church, in working 
for the kingdom of God, is working also for the king- 
dom of humanity, which attains its perfection only in 
the kingdom of God. It was the Church and nothing 
else which introduced into the world the true ideal 
of humanity. This she did by her proclamation of him 
who is the Son of Man, and who requires of us that we 
should put off the old man and put on the new. Never- 
theless, and just because there is in the Church as well as 
in the world so much of the old man, conflicts have fre- 
quently arisen between the Church and humanity, either 
because the Church asserted a false principle of authority, 
or because the advocates of humanity contended for a false 
emancipation. The Protestant Church has to maintain 
the true ideal of humanity, and oppose the false ideal in 
all its manifestations ; and the spiritual struggle against an 
atheistic, anti-Christian, nay, a demoniacal humanity, has 
in our day become one of life and death. 

The Congregation and the Ministry. — The work of edifi- 
cation must be carried out by the co-operation of pastor 
and flock. The existence in the Church of the ministerial 



39° CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 

office is founded on an intrinsic necessity. This necessity 
must, however, be understood in a Protestant sense. The 
Romish Church starting from unscriptural assertions, at- 
tributes to the clergy supernatural properties, which are 
stamped upon him independently of his personal character, 
in virtue of his ordination, constituting him a mediator 
between the laity and Christ. The Evangelical Protestant 
Church, on the contrary, insists on the priesthood of all 
Christians, and of their equality before God. In so doing, 
however, Protestantism by no means refuses to recognize a 
special ministerial office, not merely for the sake of main- 
taining church order, but also because Holy Scripture 
plainly shows it to be the Lord's will, that there should be 
at all times an appointed ministry for the preaching of the 
word, the administration of the sacraments, and the guid- 
ance of the flock. With respects, however, to the organ- 
ization of this ministry, especially as to its grades, all this 
is left to historical development, and therefore exists ac- 
cording to human appointment, and not of divine origin. 
The ministerial office itself exists according to the express 
command of the Lord (Matt. 28 : 18-20 ; Mark 16 : 15 ; 
1 Cor. 4 : 1-3 j 2 Cor. 5 : 20), and does not depend upon 
the resolution of a congregation. And though the pastor 
is the servant of the flock, yet he is above all the servant 
of the Lord, and must, whether it please his congregation 
or not, preach the word of the Lord, which is exalted far 
above himself and his people, and which will one day 
judge both himself and those who hear him. 
The evangelical pastor appears also as the servant of the 



THE CHURCH. 



391 



Lord in the administration of the sacraments. He minis- 
ters, however, at the Lord's Supper, not as a sacrificing 
priest, but as one who dispenses the Lord's gifts to the 
people. In Absolution and Confession he comes forward 
not as one exercising authority over consciences, and 
therefore binding them to compulsory confessions, not as a 
judge imposing penances and remitting temporal punish- 
ments, but as a minister of the gospel, announcing the 
forgiveness of sins according to the Lord's word and 
promise, warning, counseling, reproving, comforting, as a 
brother or a father in Christ, those who entrust themselves 
to his guidance. 

As a general rule it is far better that we have a married 
clergy. A far greater intimacy can prevail between a flock 
and its pastor if the latter has himself experienced married 
and family cares ; and there are many matters concerning 
which, as being unacquainted with them, an unmarried 
man could not be suitably applied to. The pastor may 
also, by a truly Christian family life, both in prosperity 
and adversity, be to his people an example, which may far 
more conduce to their edification than if he were placed 
upon the heights of a supposed ideal sanctity, whence he 
would look down upon marriage and a family as things 
unholy. 

Edification of Public Worship. — The edification of the 
assembled flock in public worship takes place by the use 
of the means given by the Lord himself, by his Word and 
Sacraments. The preaching of the word addresses the 
self-conscious part of the human being, the heart and con- 



392 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



science ; the sacrament embraces the whole undivided man, 
body, soul, and spirit, and extends its effects to the uncon- 
scious part of our being also, to the inmost natural side of 
life. And while the preaching of the word addresses itself 
to all, our Lord here performs his saving and redeeming 
work on the individual, receives the individual into his 
flock in the sacred laver of baptism, and thus establishes 
his Church in him, makes the individual a partaker of the 
communion of his body and blood, so that a direct and 
sacred contact and meeting takes place between the Lord 
and the believer in the Lord's Supper. This implies that 
the Church cannot be edified by the preaching of the word 
alone. And wherever this is attempted, wherever the sac- 
raments are placed under a bushel, it is found that faith, 
notwithstanding all that may be in the deepest sense calcu- 
lated to establish and support it, will be deficient in stabil- 
ity. We may see this in many who seek their edification 
exclusively in hearing the word, especially from this or that 
favorite preacher, while they are negligent or indifferent in 
the use of the sacraments. On the other hand, we must 
also most emphatically insist, that where the notion is en- 
tertained that the Church can be edified by the. sacraments 
alone, and the saving agency of the Lord by means of the 
preaching of .the word be dispensed with, there faith will 
be without real heartiness and appropriating power, and 
wanting in vitality and growth ; and there, too, will a false 
security and facility be but too quickly adopted, and mere 
externalism and bodily service, which dispenses with true 
spirituality, be introduced into public worship. 



THE CHURCH. 



393 



Hence we maintain that, whether for the individual or the 
congregation, true edification is not effected through the 
preaching of the word alone, nor through the sacraments 
alone, but through the word and sacraments in combina- 
tion. Nevertheless we may say that preaching is the chief 
part of public worship, that without it Christ cannot attain 
a form for us, nor can we possibly attain to faith in him or 
follow him, and to speak generally, our Christian life can- 
not be a self-conscious personal life. 

The Task of Christian Preaching. — The task of Chris- 
tian preaching is misconceived when it is placed only in 
instruction, and the preacher is regarded simply as a teach- 
er of religion. It is not popular theology which is to be 
delivered from the pulpit, but the gospel, the words of 
eternal life, as flowing from its original source, though the 
preacher must be well furnished with theology as a pre-re- 
quisite condition. The task of Christian preaching con- 
sists in its being of such a nature as to testify that it pro- 
claims to hearts that sacred truth to which the preacher 
himself stands in a relation of personal dependence, and 
with which he is personally filled. 

Christian preaching should not so much prove truth as 
hold it forth, direct attention to it, and place it vividly be- 
fore men, not so much prove that error is error, as evident- 
ly expose its intrinsic emptiness and hollowness, and bring 
to light its evil results. The preacher, too, in his exhibi- 
tion of truth, must above all hold forth Christ, or he must 
so prepare the way for Christ that He may manifest him- 
self to souls. In this lies the power of Christian preach- 



394 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



ing, this is its mystery, by which even a less gifted and 
simple preacher, far inferior in knowledge and education 
to many of his hearers, may produce powerful results (i 
Cor. 2: 4; 1: 21; 2 Cor. 4: 2, 7). We are mistaken, 
if we suppose that in consequence of the greater erudition 
and education of the day, Christian preaching is superflu- 
ous, or at all events to be confined to the more ignorant. 
Whatever advances the world may make in enlightenment 
and education, the preaching of the gospel will ever have 
the same effects as at first, whether upon the learned or un- 
learned, if it only remains true to itself, and desires to be 
only what the Lord intended. 



SECTION IT. 

THE CARDINAL FUNCTIONS OF THE CHURCH. 1 

Self manifestation. — One of the main functions of the 
Church is religious self-manifestation. By this we mean 
not simply manifestation of objective Christian truth, of 
the love of Christ to men, but also of a religious life. 
Wherever the Holy Spirit has already been carrying on his 
work by means of the word and sacraments, there must the 
Christian spirit also manifest itself. Individual piety is 
manifested in the essential acts of contemplation and 
prayer. There are also the acts of Church piety in con- 
gregational worship, but in this case they are united with 
the objective factors of the Word of God and the sacra- 
ments. 

1 Compare Vomer, \ 82. 



THE CHURCH. 



395 



Self-propagation. — It is by its self propagating function 
that the Church grows in extension. This is effected in a 
two-fold way. First in a pedagogic form by the education 
and instruction of those who, by means of infant baptism, 
are living apparently in Christian grace, and secondly, 
through the missionary activity of the Church. But self- 
propagation must take place intensively as well as extensive- 
ly. Everything that really lives has within itself a ten- 
dency to grow. And this points to the Church's function 
of self-purification. 

Self purification. — The Church can only be regarded as 
Christian, if engaged in a course of continual reformation 
and renovation. Self-purification has to be exercised 
against all the stains and imperfections with which, through 
sin or error, the Church may as a whole, or in its individ- 
ual members, whether externally or internally, be effected. 

The action of the whole body against the power of sin 
and error in individuals is by means of Church discipline. 
This is authorized by Matt. 18 : 18 ; i Cor. 5 : 1-8 ; Tit. 
3 : 10. But corruption in doctrine may also seize upon 
the Church as in the time of the Reformation. Then 
there is nothing left but the contrary process to that just 
described, then it is the action of the individual upon the 
Church in the way of reform and purification ; for then 
the Church must live in the bosom of each individual. If 
corruption maintains itself against such action, it may be- 
come the cause of a division in the Church. 



CHAPTER V. 



CONSUMMATION OF THE KINGDOM OF GOD. 

The Kingdom of God is still to come. — The social circles 
we have hitherto been considering are the earthly forms, by 
means of which both the whole human race and individu- 
als are to be fashioned and educated for the Kingdom of 
God, so that they may be ripened for that kingdom which 
is also the kingdom of righteousness, truth and beauty. 
But the end set before mankind cannot be attained on 
earth, and the earthly form which the divine kingdom as- 
sumes must at last be burst through and broken off as a 
temporary covering, when it has fulfilled its temporary end. 
Here on earth, the Kingdom of God, which would prove 
itself to be that of true humanity, still remains only one ta 
come. The period when it will be a kingdom come, its 
consummation, can only begin by the abolition of the 
whole present earthly dispensation. In this earthly dis- 
pensation, the Kingdom of God must continually contend 
with the false kingdom of the world, and the tares grow 
together with the wheat. But all this will one day have its 
end. A crisis will take place, a last and final judgment, 
by means of which the transition to a perfectly new order 
of things, *to another dispensation, will take place. 

(396) 



CONSUMMATION OF THE KINGDOM. 397 



He who is at tne Head of his kingdom will return for 
judgment as well as for redemption, and the day of the 
Lord will elapse in a series of catastrophes and periods of 
time, concerning which the prophetic Scriptures give us 
farther details. To this sure word of prophecy (2 Pet. 1 : 
19) the Church is referred for the understanding of the 
signs of the times, for the recognition of the last times 
and the last things, not that it may surrender itself to fan- 
tastic delusions, and the unfruitful researches of a vain cu- 
riosity, but may know what it has practically to prepare 
for and to encounter. Certainly prophecy concerning the 
last times is, to those who seek to interpret its details, a 
word hard to be understood, because so much is figurative- 
ly and symbolically expressed, because things nearest at 
hand and farthest off are crowded together, because here 
" one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thou- 
sand years as one day " (2 Pet. 3 : 8). But independent- 
ly of the varying explanation of details, in which we are 
for the most part left to conjecture, but which will become 
plainer to us in proportion as we draw nearer and nearer to 
their fulfilment, we may name as settled points, which So- 
cial Ethics can and must embrace, these three events : (1) 
The great apostasy and antichrist ; (2) The Millenium and 
reign of blessedness on earth ; (3) The perfect kingdom of 
heavenly bliss and glory. 

The Great Apostasy and the Antichrist. — It is decidedly 
and plainly predicted in the prophetic Scriptures, that evil 
must attain its supreme manifestation upon earth before the 
Lord comes. In the last times a great and widespread 



398 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



apostasy from Christianity will take place, and Christendom 
become a complete Babylon. " When the Son of man 
cometh, shall he find faith on the earth" ? (Luke 18: 8). 
Compare also Luke 17: 26-30; Matt. 24: 37-39; Matt. 
24: 24; and the Parable of the Ten Virgins, Matt. 25: 
1-13. Worldly luxury, combined with wealth, trade, and 
extensive commerce, exercises a widespread dominion ; un- 
godliness and debauchery accompany it, for Babylon is the 
abode of all unclean spirits (Rev. 18: 4-24). But in 
" one day i. e. suddenly (Rev. 18 : 8), Babylon will fall, 
a sudden catastrophe will ensue, and an overthrow of the 
social condition, of this whole world of culture and civili- 
zation, with its sham Christianity, will take place. Then 
will antichrist and the antichristian kingdom be manifest- 
ed. This designates a still greater degree of wickedness 
than Babylon, even the climax of apostasy, the consumma- 
tion of evil on earth. 

In the Revelation of St. John, antichrist is represented 
as the beast with ten horns which rises out of the sea (Rev. 
13: 1-8). This beast of Rev. 13: 1-8 is the same one 
that is referred to in Rev. n : 7, and more fully described 
in Rev. 17: 3, 7-18, and is evidently identical with the 
beast of Dan. 7 : 7, and seems, in the first place, to desig- 
nate some antichristian world-power, either political or 
spiritual,— a view which does not however, exclude the no- 
tion that this power may finally culminate in one king, the 
eighth, the personal Antichrist, which John also describes 
as "the beast ", which " goeth into perdition " (Rev. 17 : 
11), recalling the language of 2 Thess. 2:3. At all 



CONSUMMATION OF THE KINGDOM. 399 



times there have been many antichrists (opposers of Christ) 
in the world ; but according to Paul (2 Thess. 2 : 3-10), 
all the antichristian and Satanic powers will at last be con- 
centrated in a single human being. The Middle Ages saw 
antichrist in Mohammed, the Reformation era in the Pope, 
— a view which seems in our times to have received special 
corroboration from the decrees of the Vatican Council 
(1870). At any rate, the Pope as such bears within him- 
self great antichristian elements, and certainly belongs to 
Babylon, which in its narrower signification is the corrupt 
Church. But if we closely follow all the features drawn 
in Scripture, the Antichrist of the last times combines 
within himself also the marks of a worldly tyrant, after the 
pattern of Antiochus Epiphanes, a ruler who founds a sec- 
ular kingdom. He is called " the adversary " (of Christ), 
"the man of sin", "the wicked one", "the lawless 
one ", because he exalts himself above all law, whether 
human or divine. His appearance is marked by Satanic 
signs and wonders. He denies that Christ is come in the 
flesh (1 John 4: 2, 3), which the Pope does not do, exalts 
himself above all that is called God, or the worship of 
God, and gives, out that he is God (2 Thess. 2 : 4). The 
ally of antichrist is the false prophet, who is described in 
the Book of Revelation as the beast out of the earth (i. e. 
the ordered, cultivated world, in opposition to the beast 
out of the sea, nations in a state of turbulence). The 
false prophet, or the beast out of the earth (Rev. 13 : 11- 
18), is like a lamb in appearance, but speaks like a dragon, 
speaks poisonous, seductive and deceitful words, brings 



4oo 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



forward such proofs against the Christian faith, that, if it 
were possible, the very elect would be deceived, and think 
that Christianity had been but a dream which Christendom 
had dreamt through a series of centuries, but from which 
it had now awakened. The second beast evidently repre- 
sents antichristian prophecy in the last times, converging 
finally into an individual person (Rev. 13: 13; 19: 20), 
who shall prepare the way of antichrist and assist in carry- 
ing on his work. 

Then will great tribulations befall believers, since all 
who do not receive the mark of the beast and pay homage 
to the antichristian w T orld-power, must suffer martyrdom, 
while the multitudes live in worldliness and .security. All 
who have any degree of skill in placing the signs of the 
times in the light of God's Word, will not mistake the fact 
that those elements are more and more showing themselves 
from which the false prophet is to be developed ; atheistic, 
materialistic systems, denying God and the existence of spirit, 
and based upon a purely physical view of existence ; a lit- 
erature, which by its poetry, fictions and romances diffuses 
the gospel of the flesh among the masses, and upsets all 
moral notions. Nor can the political state of the times be 
misunderstood, especially the prevailing tendency to ban- 
ish Christianity from public life and from the public 
schools, to undermine all authority, and to break with all 
historical traditions. The Apostle Paul has told us (2 
Thess. 2 : 6) that antichrist cannot come till a power, not 
further defined by the apostle, but a hindering power, well 
known to his readers of those days, be taken out of the 



CONSUMMATION OF THE KINGDOM. 401 



way. By this withholding power it is possibly best to un- 
derstand moral legal institutions, the restraining power of 
political government, or the influence of human law. 
When this is taken out of the way by war and revolution, 
and a state of things, in which there is absolutely no au- 
thority, comes to pass, then antichrist shall seize the scep- 
tre, and appear as the all-ruling power. 

The believing Church is directed, during this whole 
period of tribulation and continuance of the antichristian 
government, to the words : " Here is the patience and the 
faith of the saints " (Rev. 13 : 10). The parable of " the 
wise and foolish virgins " (Matt. 25: 1-13) will then be 
fulfilled in the widest sense. While the Lord delays his 
coming, while Relievers are surrounded by the material 
powers of persecution and the spiritual delusions of the 
false prophet, they are tempted to become spiritually faint 
and weary, and to slumber and sleep, with lamps burnt 
down and going out. The great thing for us to do is to 
adhere to the prophetic word, and to take heed thereto, as 
to a light shining in a dark place (2 Pet. 1 : 19), which 
has faithfully told us of all these things before, that they 
may not overtake us unprepared. 

The Millenium. — If the apostasy were to be the final 
close of human history, the pessimistic view of the world 
would come off victorious. But there is a day of bright 
prospects for the Church on earth to follow after the de- 
struction of antichrist. The prophetic word tells us that 
the time of antichrist is to be suddenly interrupted and 
put an end to, by the coming of the Lord, by his manifes- 
27 



402 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



tation in a visible and extraordinary manner, to found, by 
a fresh exercise of his power, a new era. He will slay 
antichrist with the breath of his mouth, and bring him to 
nought by the manifestation of his coming (2 Thess. 2 : 8), 
and establish the millenial kingdom (Rev. 20 : 4), and 
reign over the earth from heaven, as God ruled over his 
people during the time of Moses. We must, however, re- 
gard the thousand years as having a symbolical meaning, 
for a thousand years are with the Lord as one day, and one 
day as a thousand years. Many fantastic notions have in- 
deed been combined with this prophecy, and the mode of 
its fulfilment must for the most part remain in very unde- 
fined outline ; but the substance of the expectation here 
held out is the universal supremacy of Christianity upon 
earth. Before the final heavenly consummation in the 
kingdom of glory, the Church is to experience an earthly 
consummation, which as a time of rest from persecution, 
looks back to the conflicts and tribulations of past times, 
and at the same time is a preparation for the sabbath of 
the future glory. This period will exhibit the results, the 
ripened fruit of all past labor for the kingdom of God, 
and will at the same time serve as a pledge and prelude -of 
the heavenly kingdom. Satan will be bound (Rev. 20: 2, 
3), and all antichristian principles will be banished from 
public life, and Christianity alone will rule in public life 
and its institutions. The kingdom and lordship of the 
world have now become the kingdom of our Lord and of 
his Christ (Rev. 11 : 15). It is possible that at the begin- 
ning of this period the conversion of the Jews takes place, 



CONSUMMATION OF THE KINGDOM. 4°3 



and, according to hints given us in Scripture, there will 
now be a great alliance of Christian nations, with the con- 
verted nation of Israel at its head, and Christendom will 
be one flock under one Shepherd, and Christ shall rule on 
earth from heaven, as God did during the times of Moses 
and the Judges. This golden age will be a period of earth- 
ly consummation, of restoration and revival, but this is 
not yet the final heavenly consummation. 

The special beauty and excellence of earthly life will 
reach its most perfect manifestation in the golden age, 
which will be truly a time of refreshing (Acts 3 : 20, 21). 
Those to whom it will be granted to dwell on the earth in 
those days will live a life in the fulness of both nature and 
grace, as far as such a life is possible under earthly condi- 
tions. In this glorious period of the Church on earth the 
most perfect delight in the present life will be united with 
a waiting and longing for the heavenly life to come, the 
powers of which are already so vividly felt. 

This kingdom, however, is only one of earthly happiness 
in a Christian sense, and nothing more. Its limitation is 
that it does not remain, that it is not a kingdom which 
cannot be moved. Sin still exists, though its power is re- 
stricted and repressed. Death, too, is there, and with it 
also the transitoriness and vanity to which the creature is 
subject (Rom. 8 : 20). There are also many who think 
that they can find support in Scripture for the opinion that 
during this period the power of death will be restrained 
and repressed, tHat diseases will be fewer, that men will 
live far longer than now, as they did in the times of the 



404 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



patriarchs, and that all nature, becoming more receptive 
of the invisible influence of celestial and beneficent 
powers, will present to view rather a state of peace than 
one of destructive conflict as now (Isa. n : 6-9 ; 65 ; 20- 
25). In this great period of transition, communications 
between heaven and earth are also conceivable, appear- 
ances from the other world, visible manifestations of Christ 
to believers, as in the forty days following his resurrection. 

Scripture further informs us that this period shall have 
an end, that Satan shall again be loosed, and shall come 
forth to deceive the nations, and that a great apostasy again 
takes place. 

Not till then does the end of the Last Day come, and 
with ?.t the last judgment, when the heavens shall be dis- 
solved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, and 
the new heavens and the new earth, wherein dwelleth 
righteousness, shall appear, and the eternal kingdom of 
blessedness and glory begin (2 Pet. 3: 8-13). This king- 
dom is the everlasting heavenly Kingdom of God, and dif- 
fers altogether from the Millenial Kingdom, already spoken 
of, as this latter was simply the highest consummation of 
the Church of God on earth. 

It does not belong to Ethics but to Dogmatics to treat 
more particularly of the general resurrection to take place 
at the close of the Last Day, and of the first resurrection at 
the manifestation of Christ at the beginning of the Last 
Day. 

Waiting for the Day of the Lord. — To wait for the day 
of the Lord means to look for and expect those catastro- 



CONSUMMATION OF THE KINGDOM. 



405 



phes, events, and periods by means of which he will at his 
own time introduce the consummation of the Kingdom of 
God. The Church has from the beginning been directed 
to keep this object in view, and to watch as those who 
wait by night for their Lord's return. The night during 
which the Church is to watch is this whole era. It has 
often been said that the Apostles were in error in expect- 
ing the coming of the Lord during their own lifetime. 
Such an assertion arises from a misconception of the pro- 
phetic mode of view and the prophetic manner of expres- 
sion, according to which the remote draws near and ap- 
pears as present, and from a one-sided apprehension of sin- 
gle passages, wrested from their connection with the whole. 
The Apostles indeed say expressly that much must happen 
before the Lord finally appears for the final consummation 
of all things, that antichrist must first come, also that the 
preaching of the gospel in the whole world and the con- 
version of Israel must first take place. Undoubtedly they 
imagined that all this would happen in a far shorter time 
than was really necessary. But this limitation of their 
historical and temporal circle of vision is in perfect har- 
mony with the Lord's saying (Matt. 24: 36), according to 
which that day and hour is known only to the Father in 
heaven. 

There are then two extremes which must always be op- 
posed in waiting for the day of the Lord. The one is to 
conceive of this day as removed to a distance enveloped in 
impenetrable obscurity. 

The transition from such a conception to unbelief is 



CHRISTIAN ETHICS. 



easy, and one which appeared even in the days of the 
Apostles, when scoffers said : ' ' Where is the promise of 
his coming?" (2 Pet. 3:4). A false security is found in 
many slumbering believers, who, although they began their 
course with lamps brightly burning, have in a spiritual 
sense fallen asleep. To all these will the day of the Lord 
come like a thief in the night, and they will be as much 
terrified as surprised when at midnight the cry is made, — 
when those great revolutions occur — in the presence of 
which they are utterly helpless, and are overwhelmed by 
the things which are coming upon the earth. It may here 
be not out of place to remember, that in a purely personal 
respect there is something which might no less destroy this 
false security than the thought of the last judgment, name- 
ly, the thought of death, which must throughout his whole 
lifetime be hovering before every man, as near and inevi- 
table, though its appointed day and hour are always uncer- 
tain even in old age. But in the expectation of the last 
day, the question is not so much the relation in which the 
individual stands, as that in which the world and the 
Church stand to the Lord. 

It is the other extreme when men imagine the day of 
the Lord so near, as even to think they can calculate the 
day and hour, in opposition to the express declaration of 
Christ himself that of that day and hour knoweth no man 
(Matt. 25: 13; 24: 36; Acts 1: 7)3 and when in their 
thoughtlessness they pass over middle terms, events of 
which Scripture says decidedly that they must occur before 
the Lord comes. 



CONSUMMATION OF THE KINGDOM. 407 



The ethic view-point to be at all times and under all cir- 
cumstances adhered to, in waiting for the last day, is, to 
wait for the Lord in the belief that he will come quickly, 
but not to think that this "quickly " can be measured by 
our clocks. " Watch therefore : for ye know not on what 
day your Lord cometh " (Matt. 24: 42). 

Unto Him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the 
Lamb, be the blessing, and the honor, and 
the glory, and the dominion, 
for ever and ever. 

AMEN. 



INDEX. 



Absolution, 391 
. Active love and suffering of Christ, 
64-66 

Adam, Christ the Second, 59 

Adiaphora, no, III 

Admiration, 220, 221 

Administration of the Sacraments, 
390-392 

Adultery, 33 2 '334 

Advent, the Second, 404-407 

^Esthetic education, 138-142 

Affluence, a certain measure of, 
desirable, 313 

Agricultural class, the, 355 

Animals, love to, 256-258 

Anthropological Postulate of Eth- 
ics, 24-36 

Antichrist, the Man of Sin, 45, 
397-401 

Antinomianism, individual, 108, 

279 ; social, 109, 1 10 
Apostasy, 304 ; the great, 397 
Appropriating Love, 21 1, 212 
Appropriation, 28, 29,75,211,212 
Aquinas, Thomas, 21 
Aristotle, 137 
Art and culture, 380 
Art and humanity, 38 1 
Art and morality, 371, 382 
Art and science, 380 
Asceticism, 31, 42, 73, 79, 28*9, 

305-310 
Assault, 266-272 
Assimilation, 28, 29 
Authority, 84-86, 117, 1 18; 

and Christian liberty, 280,281 
Autobiographies, 71 
Autonomic morality, 9 
Awakening, 70, 186 

(409) 



Baptism, 69, 203, 339 ; 

and regeneration, 1 79-182, 
186 

Beast, love to the, 256-258 
Believer, relation of, to the law, 

105-107 
Beneficence, 250 
Bilious temperament, 125 
Birth, new. See Regeneration. 
Blasphemy, 371 

Blessedness, contrasted with hap- 
piness, 30, 41-43 
Blessing, the, 247 
Bliss. See Blessedness. 
Body of man, 25, 26 
Bondage, self-conscious, 158, 159 
Boniim consummatum, 40, 41 ; 

suprei?uim, 40, 41 
Burial, 254, 255 
Byron, pessimism of, 49 

Calling, the earthly, 261 -263 ; 

the heavenly, 261, 262 
Capital punishment, 374 
Cardinal virtues, the four, 77 
Casuistry, 1 14 

Catholicism and Protestantism con- 
trasted, 14, 15 
Celibacy, 316-319 
Character, Christ the perfect, 58, 
595 

The Christian, 81, 82; 

Development of, 297-304 ; 

Personal, 122, 123 ; 

Purity 6*f, 305, 306; 

Energy of, 306-308 ; 

Harmony of, 309 
Chastisement, 273 
Chastity," 268, 306 



INDEX. 



Childhood, 121 

Children, education of, 339-342 
Chiliasm, 43, 44, 401 
Choice, determines the character 
of the will, 32, 33 ; 
Of a partner in life, 319. 
Choleric temperament, 125 
Christ the Way of life, 8 ; 

The centre of Christian mo- 
rality, 13 ; 
The ideal Personality, 56, 58 ; 
True man and true God, 57, 

59, 60; 
Our Pattern, 56, 57, 61 ; 
The example of self-govern- 
ment, 58; 
Obedience of, 61-63 > 
The unparalleled in history, 

57; 

The perfect righteousness, 67 ; 

Love of, 63-66 ; 

Exaltation of, 67; 

Imitation of, 72-74; 

Fulfils the law, 102, 103 
Christian Ethics. See Ethics. 
Christianity, relation of, to the 
world, 13, 14; 

Aim of, 38 ; 

The truth of optimism and 
pessimism, 49, 50 ; 

Is universalistic as well as 
individualistic, 54; 

Has given to the family its 
true moral importance, 314 ; 

Its relation to the State, 352 ; 

Has emancipated woman,335; 

Relation of, to the prosper- 
ity of a country, 359, 360 
Christian State, the, 352 
Church, the, 53, 387-394 ; 

Cardinal functions of, 394, 

395; 

Marriage by the, 322; 

Discipline by, 395 
Civil community, the, 354 
Civil righteousness, 131-133 
Classes of mankind, 354-358 
Colleges, the, 385 
Collision of duties, 114 



Comfort under sufferings, 276, 277 
Coming, Second. See Advent. 
Commandments of Christ, 107 
Commercial class, the, 357 
Communion with God, 222 
Compassion with ourselves, 259, 
260 

Completion of God's Kingdom, 39 
Confession of sin, 77 
Confessions of Augustine, 7 1 
Concerts and fairs, 250, 25 1 
Congregation and ministry, 389 
Conscience, nature of, Sj,SS; 

Form of manifestation of, 89, 
90; 

Testimony of, 91, 92; 
May be enlightined and cul- 
tivated, 92, 93 ; 
The social, 94 
Conservatism, 1 18 
Consummation of God's Kingdom, 

39, 396-407 
Contemplation, 212-221 
Contentment, 294-296 
Conversion, nature of, 1 84- 1 86, 
203; 

Hindrances to, 191-193 
Contemplative love, 63, 64, 76, 

212-221 
Convictions, 235, 236 
Covetousness, 31, 32, 152 
Creationism, 26 
Cremation, 254 
Criticism, unbelieving, 21 7 
Cross, the, 275, 276 
Cruelty to animals, 257, 258 
Culture, tasks of, 380-386 
Cynics, 42 

Dead, love to the, 252-255 
Death, 289-291, 293 
Delitzsch, on the conscience, 93, 94 
Determinism, 34, 35 
Dietetics, 307 
Discipleship, 68-70 
Discipline, church, 395 
Dishonor and honor, 283, 284 
Dissection of dead bodies, 254, 
255 



INDEX, 



411 



Divisions of Christian Ethics, 2-5 
Divorce, 332-334 

Dogmatics, contrasted with Ethics, 
19, 20 

Aim of, 39 
Domestic happiness, 285 
Dorner, Ethics of, 5 
Duties, 112; 

Of the moment, 113; 

Collision of, 114 
Duty, 7, 8, 83 ; 

Bondage of, 138 

Edification by the Church, 388 

In public worship, 391 
Education, of the individual, 37, 
38; 

^Esthetic, 138-142; 

Aim of, 339-342 
Effeminacy, 153 
Egoism, 29, 31, 44, 77 
Eleusinian mysteries, 42 
Emancipation, is not redemption, 
50,51 

Modern doctrine of, 334 

Of woman, 334-337 
Embalming, 254 
Empirical Ethics, 2 
Enjoying and working, 266 
Envy, 152 

Eschatological Postulate of Ethics, 
39 

Ethical, definition of the, 8 
Ethics, name, I ; 

Divisions of, 2, 4 ; 
Literature of, 5 ; 
Idea and scope of, 6-20 ; 
Contrast between Catholic and 

Protestant, 14-16 ; 
Between Lutheran and Re- 
formed, 1 6- 1 8 ; 
Contrasted with Dogmatics, 

19, 20; 
Biblical character of, 20 ; 
Postulates of, 21-39 > 
Aim of, 39 ; 

Fundamental principles of, 

40-119 ; 
Individual, 120-310; 



Ethics, Social, 311-407 

Eudaimonism, 41, 42 

Evil, continual conflict with, 44 ; 

Kingdom of, 44, 45 ; 

Definition of highest, 45 
Evils, 282, 283 
Exaltation of Christ, 67, 69 
Example, edifying, 252 

Factory life, 362 
Fairs and concerts, 250, 251 
Faith, contrasted with morality, II; 
Contrasted with love, 75, 208, 
209 ; 

Justifying, 79, 1 97-201 ; 

We are regenerated to, 1 78 ; 

Nature of, 187, 189-191, 203, 
208, 209 ; 

And the Gospel, 193-197 
Faithfulness, 263 
Fall, result of the, 33 
F nily, the, 311-346 ; 

The beginning of the Moral 
world, 312 ; 

Moral importance of, 314; 

Life of, 338-346 ; 

Affection of, 338 
Fasting, 308 
Faults, natural, 123 
Fear, 99 

Fellowship, with Christ, 81 
Female nature, 126, 127 
Fidelity, 77, 345 

Forbearance, ethical, 110-112, 251 
Forgiveness of sins, 14, 15, 79, 

104, 197-201 
Franciscus of Sales, 79 
Frank, ethics of, 5 
Freedom. See Liberty. 
Freedom of the Will, 6, 32, 84, 85 
Friendship, 285, 345 
Fulness of time, 58 

Gambling-houses, 372 
Gentiles, Christ and the, 117 
Gentleness, 251 

God, is the absolute good, 7, 21, 
22; 

Ethical concept of, 21-23 ; 



412 



INDEX. 



God, Perfect love, 22, 23 ; 
Perfect power, 23 ; 
Perfect wisdom, 23 ; 
Is Triune, 23 ; 

The Absolute Personality. 21; 
Kingdom of, 24, 40, 41, 52, 
, 396; 

The author of authority, 85, 
86 

Gcethe, optimism of, 47, 48 
Golden age, the, 403 ; 
Good, the, 6, 7 ; 

Is the ethical idea, .7 ; 

The three fundamental ideas 

of, 8,9; 
The highest, 9, 21, 22, 40-55 
Gospel, contrasted with the Law, 
98, 99, 186, 187; 
Essence of the, 100, 101, 193- 
197 

Grace, of God, 117, 196; 

Falling from, 302-304 ; 

State of, 202, 203 
Greetings, human, 246 
Guilt of sin, 1 70-172 
Gymnastics, 308, 309 

Habit, 151 

Hand, ethical significance of the,26 
Happiness, contrasted with bless- 
edness, 30, 41-43 ; 
Ideal of, limited, 43, 44 ; 
Secret of, in married life, 325- 
327 

Hardness of heart, 153, 163 
Hapless, Ethics of, 4 ; 

On conscience, 87-92 ; 

On sin against the Holy 
Ghost, 1 69 n 
Hate, 152 

Hatred of God, 164; 

Of Christ, 164-166 
Health, 287 
Heart, the, 25 ; 

Hardness of, 153, 163 
Helpfulness, 247 
Highest Good, the, 9, 40-55 
History, true apprehension of, aim 
of, 37, 38, 51, 52; 



History as an object of contempla- 
tion, 214 

Holiness. See Sanctification. 

Holy Ghost, sin against the, 167- 
169 

Home, love of, 338 

Honor and dishonor, 283, 284 

Hope, differs from faith and love, 

208, 209 
Hospitality, 344 
Humanity, concept of, 9, 10 

Deepest impulses of, 29, 30 ; 
Kingdom of, 50, 51 
And the Church, 389 
Human nature, is innate and ac- 
quired, 7 ; 
Internal contradiction in, 135, 
136; 

"Weakness of, 136 
Husband, duties of, 324 
Hypocrisy, 162, 163 

Ideal, the ethical, 7, 56, 57 
Image of God, man formed in the, 
24, 25 

Imitation of Christ, 72-74 
Immorality, 148 
Impulses of humanity, 29, 30 
Imputation of sin, 1 70-172 
Inclination, 29 ; 

Marriage of, 321 
Indeterminism, 34, 35 
Individual, education of the, 37, 

38, 138-142, 339-342 
Indifference, 161 
Individualism, of Vinet, 53, 54; 

Of Kierkegaard, 54, 55 
Individuality of man, 26-28, 53, 54 
Industrial Class, 356 
Intercession, 225-227, 247 
Intercourse, social, 346 
Interment, 254 

Jesuitism, 1 10, 171 

Job, lessons of the book of, 274 

Joy, 80, 294-296 

Judgment, 39 

Justice and the State, 347 



INDEX. 



413 



Justification, by faith, 14, 15, 79, 

104, 197-201 
Juvenal, 47 

Kant, 134, 136, 141 
Kierkegaard, individualism of, 54 
55 

Kingdom of God, 24 ; 

The highest good, 40, 41 ; 

Is for individuals, 52 ; 

Differs from the Church, 388; 

Consummation of the, 247 
Kiss, the, 247 

Knowledge of self, 135-138 
Labor, 313 

Laboring class, the, 357 
Labor question, the, 361 -363 
Last Day, the, 404 
Last Things, the, 39, 396-407 
Lavater, 27 

Law, discussion of the, 83-119; 

Duty and, 83-86 ; 

Content of the, 94-97 ; 

The positive, 97-100 ; 

Christ the fulfiller of the, 102; 

Love the fulfillment of the, 
2IO, 211 ; 

Believer's relation to the, 105- 
107, 115, 116; 
. Triple use of, 116; 

Life without, 1 20-1 30; 

Life under, 131-147; 

And works, 1 7, 18; 

And gospel, 98, 99, 186, 187 ; 

And Christian Liberty, 279 
Leibnitz, 257 

Liberty, 84, 85, 117, 118, 208; 

Ideal of Christian, 278 ; 

And the Law, 279 ; 

And Authority, 280 ; 

And the World, 282-296 
Lie, the, 152 ; 

of necessity, 236 
Life, the great aim of, 8 ; 

The new, 106 ; 

Without law, 120-130 ; 

Under the law, 131-147; 

According to nature, 121 ; 



Life, earnestness of, 129 ; 

According to reason, 134 ; 

In a state of grace, 202, 203 ; 

Preservation of, 289-29 1 ; 

Weariness of, 291 
Likeness to Christ, 72-74 
Literature of Ethics, 5 
Lord's Day, 17 
Lord's Prayer, 225 
Lord's Supper, 222, 228-231 
Lotteries, 372 

Love, God is perfect, 22, 23 ; 
Of Christ, 61, 63-66, 233 ; 
To Christ, 74-76; 
To man, 75, 232-235 ; 
Contemplative, 76, 212-221 ; 
Mystical, 76, 221, 222-231 ; 
Ministering, 233; 
Practical, 76, 232-257 ; 
Christian, 202-277, 258-276; 
Evangelical, 208-211 ; 
Differs from faith and hope, 

208, 209 ; 
Is the fulfilment of the law, 

210, 221 ; 
Appropriating, 211, 212; 
Of righteousness, 242 ; 
And righteousness, 244, 245 ; 
To the dead, 252-255 ; 
To posterity, 255-256; 
To nature, 256 ; 
To beast, 256-258; 
To woman leads to marriage, 

319; 

In married life must increase, 

3 2 5 
Lust, 149-15 1 
Luthardt, Ethics of, 5 
Luther, on the law, 99, I OO 
Lutheran Church, rich in works on 
Ethics, 5 ; 
Ethics of, contrasted with Re- 
formed Church, 16-18 ; 
Teaching on divorce, 332-334 
Madame DeGuyon, 79 
Malum consummatum and supre- 
mum, 45 

Male, the, 126, 127 [24; 
Man, formed in the image of God, 



4M 



INDEX. 



Man has lost this original image, 

24, 33 ; 

Inclined to evil, 91, 92 ; 

Possesses body, soul, and 
spirit, 25, 26 ; 

Individuality and personality 
of, 27, 28 ; 

Bent or Inclination of, 29 ; 

Worldliness characteristic fea- 
ture of, 30, 31 j 

Will of, 32, 33 ; 

Fall of, 33 ; 

Christ the perfect, 59, 60 
Marriage, 315; 

Second, 331 ; 

Monogamous, 316; 

Contraction of, 319-324; 

Choice of a partner in, 319 ; 

Of inclination, 321 ; 

Church solemnization of, 322; 

Impediments to, 323 ; 

Duties of husband and wife 
in, 324; _ 

Love must increase after, 325; 

Trials of life after, 327 ; 

Misfortune of mixed, 329; 

Dissolution of, 331 
Martensen, divisions of Ethics of, 
3,4 

Masters, duty of, 342, 343 

Melancholic temperament, 124 

Mennonites, 239, 378 

Mercy, 248-251 

Merit, 115 

Metanoice, 1 85 

Mourning, 253 

Millenium, the, 44, 401-404 

Ministering love, 233 

Ministry, the, 389-391 

Missionary activity, 232 

Molinos, 79 

Monachism, 31, 79 

Moral, definition of the, 6-I0; 

Concept of the, 6, 7 
Moral order of the world, 36, 37 
Moral Philosophy, I 
Morality, personal, 7 ; 

Either autonomic or theono- 
mic, 9 ; 



Man contrasted with religion, 10- 
12 ; 

Contrasted with faith, 1 1 ; 

Distinction between worldly 
and religious, II, 12; 

Insufficiency of worldly, 12 ; 

Essential character of Chris- 
tian, 13, 14; 

Of Catholic Church, 14, 15 ; 

Of Protestantism, 15, 16; 

Law of, 83, 84 ; 

Of the natural man, 131 ; 

Particularistic, 132, 133; 

The middle-way, 142; 

Public, 370 
Mother, the influence of the, 337 
Motive, the highest, 79 
Motives, determine the will, 33 
Murder, 374 
Music, 382 
Mysticism, 289 ; 

Defect of, 74 
Mystical love, 76, 221, 222-231 
Mystics, 214 

Nationality, 350 ; 

Relation of to Christianity, 351 
Natural man, the, 120-122 ; . 

Morality of, 131, 132 ; 

Contradiction in, 135, 136 
Natural revelation, 94 
Nature, law of, 83, 84 ; 

Life according to, 121, 122; 

An object of contemplation, 
214; 

Love to, 256 
Necessity, doctrine of, 35, 84; 

Lie of, 236, 237 
Neighbor, love to, 233-235 
New Life. See Regeneration. 
New man, 175 

Nitzsch, on the lie of necessity, 237 
Nominalism, 53, 54 
Nomism, 107 

Oath, the, 237-241 
Obedieuce, 8 ; 

Of Christ, 61-63 
Obligations, moral, 96, 97 



INDEX. 



415 



Oetinger, 215 
Opinions, 235, 236 
Optimism, contrasted with Pessim- 
ism, 46, 47, 51 ; 

Of Goethe, 47 ; 

Of Christianity, 47, 45, 50 ; 

Of Shakespeare, 49 
Ordination, 390 
Original sin, 33, 34 

Parables, of the Pearl of Great 
Price, 13, 14; 
Of the Leaven, 13, 14 
Parents, duty of to children, 339- 
342 

Particularism, 132,133 

Passion, 149, 150 

Passion of Christ, necessary, 66 

Passive love and suffering of 

C hrist, 65, 66 
Patriotism, 374, 375 
Pattern, Christ our, 56, 57 
Peace, 80, 295 
Perfection, 1 12 
Permissible, the, no 
Personality, human, 7, 27, 28 ; 

Development of, 28, 29 ; 

Idea of, 21 ; 

Ideal of, 56, 57 ; 

The perfect, 58, 59; 

Of God, 21 
Pessimism, contrasted with Optim- 
ism, 46, 47, 51 ; 

Of Christianity, 47, 49, 50; 

Of the Book of Ecclesiastes, 
48, 49; 

Of Byron, 49 ; 

Of Shakespeare, 49 
Petition, 225-227. See Prayer. 
Pharisaic righteousness, 143-145 
Philanthropy, 234, 242 
Philosophical Ethics, 2, 5 
Philosophical righteousness, 134- 
H3 

Phlegmatic temperament, 125 
Physiognomy, 26, 27 
Plato, 21,42 
Plautus, 47 
Politeness, 246, 247 



Poor, the care of the, 250 
Pope, the, as Antichrist, 399 
Posterity, love to, 255 
Postulates of Ethics, 21-39; 

the theological, 21-23 '■> 

the anthropological, 24-36; 

the cosmological and soterio- 
logical, 36-38; 

the eschatological, 39 
Poverty, 286 

Power, God is almighty, 23 

Practical love, 76 

Prayer, definition of, 222, 233 , 

Hindrances to, 223, 308 ; 

Cultivation of the gift of, 224 ; 

In the Name of Jesus, 224 ; 

Intercessory, 225, 226; 

And thanksgiving, 227 ; 

Form of, 228 
Preaching, the task of, 393 
Pre- existence of Christ, 60 
Press, the, 376 
Pride, 152 

Priesthood of believers, 15 
Production, 28, 29 
Progress, 118 
Promise, 101, 196 
Property, 286, 313 
Prosperity, social, 284-286; 

General, 359 
Protestantism, contrasted with Ca- 
tholicism, 14, 15 ; 

Formal principle of, 14; 

Material principle of, 14; 

Morality of, 15, 16 
Providence, 36, 37, 70 
Public morality, 370 
Public opinion, 375 
Public worship. 39 1 
Punishment of sin, 172, 173; 

By the State, 372-374 
Purity of character, 305, 306 

Quakers, 239, 378 

Quietism, 79, 80 

Quietistic temperament, 126 

Reading of Scripture, 216-219 
Realism, 53, 54 



4i6 



INDEX. 



Reason, life according to, 134 ; 

Marriage according to, 321 
Redemption, differs from emanci- 
pation, 50, 51 ; 
Doctrine of, 100, 101 
Reformation, influence of the, on 

Ethics, 14-16 
Reformed Ethics contrasted with 

Lutheran, 1 6- 18 
Regenerate, relation of the, to the 

law, 115, 116 
Regeneration, 71 ; 

In its stricter sense, 174-179, 
185; 

And baptism, 179-182; 
In its wider sense, 183 
Appropriation of, 1 84; 
As distinguished from sancti- 

fication, 205 ; 
In its relation to temptation, 

267 

Religion and morality, contrasted 
10-12 

Religious liberty, 353 
Religious training of children, 340- 
342 

Repentance, 185, 186, 187-191, 

203 

Resurrection of Christ, 69 
Revelation, Book of, 45, 397-404 
Revelation, natural and supernatu- 
ral, 94, 97 
Revolutionary socialism, 363 
Reward, 115 
Riches, 286 

Righteousness, Christ the perfect, 

67, 103 ; 
Pursuit of, 129, 130; 
Civil, 1 31 -1 33 ; 
Philosophical, 1 34- 143 ; 
Pharisaic, 143-145 ; 
Seekers of, 145-147 ; 
Love of, 242, 243 ; 
Extends to all parts of life, 

244; 

And love, 244, 245 
Roman Catholic Church, 14, 15, 

105, no, 113, 171, 332-334 
Roman Satirists, 47 



Sabbath, 17 

Sacrament of baptism, 69, 179-182, 
186, 203; 
Of Lord s Supper, 222, 228- 

231 

Sanctification, 78, 204-208; 
Is progressive, 204 ; 
Activity of man in, 204-206 ; 
And the Christian Virtues, 
207 ; 

Stages of, 297-299 ; 

States of, 299-301 
Sanguine temperament, 123 
Sartorius, Ethics of, 5 
Scepticism, 159-161 
Schiller's theory of eesthetic edu- 
cation, 139-142 
Schleiermacher, 135 ; 

On the lie of necessity, 237 
Schmid, Ethics of, 5 
School, the, 385 
Science and humanity, 384 
Scotists, the, 21 

Scribes, righteousness of the, 143- 
145 

Scripture, reading of, 216-219 
Security, state of, 156-158 
Seekers of righteousness, 145-147 
Self-control, 306-308 
Self-deception, 159 
Self-degradation, 31 
Self-denial, 306-308 
Self- exaltation, 31, 32 
Self-government, 6, 24 
Self-inspection, 215, 216 
Selfishness, 28, 31, 44, 77 
Self-knowledge, 135-138, 214, 306 
Self-love, 75 ; 

Christian, 258-277 
Self-preservation, 29 
Self-renovation, 207 
Self-righteousness, 143-145 
Self-sanctification, 205 
Sensuality, 152 
Servant, Christ a, 61-63 
Servants, duty of, 342, 343 
Sex, difference of, 126-128 
Sickness, 287, 288 
Silence, 265 



INDEX. 



4i7 



Sin, 24 ; 

Development of, 31, 32; 
Principal forms of, 31, 32; 
Universality of, 32 ; 
Enslaves the will, 33, 34 ; 
Kingdom of, 44, 45 ; 
Confession of, 77 J 
Manifestations of, 148- 1 55 ; 
Ramifications of, 151-153; 
Differences in, 153-155 i 
Classification of, 155 > 
States of, 156-169 
Imputation and guilt of, 170- 
172; 

Punishment of, 172, I73>37 2 " 
374 

Against the Holy Ghost, 167- 
169 

Social conscience, 94 
Social intercourse, 346 
Social life, three principal tenden- 
cies in, 16 ; 

And solitude, 263-265 
Socialism, 52, 53, 358; 

Utopian and revolutionary, 
363; 

Ethic, 365 ; 

Christian, 369 
Social prosperity, 284-286 
Society, development of, 1 17, 118 ; 

And solitude, 263-265 

Moral life of, 311 
Solitude, 263-265 
Son of God, Christ the, 60 
Son of Man, Christ the, 59, 60 
Soteriological Postulate of Ethics, 

36-38 
Soul of man, 25, 26; 

Faculties of, 25 
Spirit, Holy, 175, 177, 179, 181, 

182 

Spirit of man, 25 
Spiritualism, 31 

State, doctrine of the, 16, 347- 

3795 
And justice, 347 ; 
Origin of, 347 ; 
Duty of, 348; 

Notion of the Christian, 352; 



State and the civil community, 354, 

357; 

Legislation by, 368 ; 

Public morality and the, 370 
States of sin, 156-169 ; 

Of grace, 202, 203 
Stoics, the, 42, 134 
Suffering, aim of, 273-275 ; 

Comfort under, 276,277 
Suffering of Christ, 66 
Suicide, 291-293 
Supererogation, 1 12, 1 13 
Supernatural revelation, 94 
Supplicative love, 63, 64 
Synergism, 34 

Tauler, 214 

Temperament, 28, 123; 

the sanguine, 123 ; 

the melancholic, 124; 

the bilious, 1 25 ; 

the phlegmatic, 125 ; 

the choleric, 125 ; 

the quietistic, 125 
Temporal goods, 282, 283 
Temptation, 149-151, 266-270 
Theatre, the, 139-141 
Thankfulness, 220, 221, 227, 260, 
295 

Thanksgiving, 227 
Theological Ethics, I, 2 
Theological Postulate of Ethics, 
21-23 

Theonomic morality, 9 
Trials, object of, 267, 273-275 ; 

Of married life, 327-329 
Tribulation, the great, 400 
Trinity, the, 23 
Triune, God is, 23 
Truth, love of, 234-237, 241 
Truthfulness, duty of, 236 

Unbelief within the Christian 

State, 353 
Union with God, 1 1 
University, the, 385 
Utopian Socialism, 363 

Vice, 151 



4i8 



INDEX. 



Vilmar, Ethics of, 5 
Vinet, individualism of, 53, 54 
Virtue, 9, 56-82 
Virtues, the four cardinal, 77 ; 

Natural, 123 
Vivisection, 257 
Vocation of women, 335 

War, 377-379 
"Weal, the common, 358 
Wife, duties of the, 324 
Will, freedom of the, 6 ; 

Is our inmost being, 23 ; 
As free and bound, 32 ; 
Powerlessness of, 92 ; 
Character of produced by 

choice, 32, 33 ; 
Determination of, depends on 

motives, 33 ; 
Enslaved by sin, 33, 34 ; 
Indeterminism and determin- 
ism of, 34, 35 ; 
Not under natural necessity, 
35,84; 

Divine and human, of Christ, 
61 



Wisdom, God is perfect, 23 
Woman, special gifts of, 127 ; 

Emancipation of, 334-337 ; 

Temptations of, 128 ; 

Vocation of, 335 ; 

Ideal sphere of, 337 
Word of God, 186, 193 -1 97 ; 

The reading of the, 216 219 
Working and enjoying, 266 
Workmen, trials of the, 361-363 
Works and law, 17, 18 • 
World, moral order of the, 36, 37 ; 

Christian view of, 37 ; 

Aim of the history of, 37 j 

Kingdom of, 46 
Worldliness, the characteristic fea- 
ture of man, 30, 31 
Worldly Morality, II, 12, 30, 31 
Worship, 211, 212, 391 
Wuttke, Ethics of, 4, 5 

On personal morality, 7 ; 

On destruction between Lu- 
theran and Reformed Eth- 
ics, 16-18; 

On bliss, 43 



t 



\ 



